Group Spiritual Direction: A Place for Complicated Faith

What Do We Do With a Faith We Still Love?

What do we do when we still love Christ, but some of the things we were taught about Christianity no longer make sense?

What do we do when we love Scripture but have become painfully aware of the ways Scripture has been used to control, exclude, shame, and wound?

What do we do when our faith still feels alive, but our inherited explanations for that faith no longer do?

I don't think these questions necessarily mean that our faith is failing.

I think they mean that we're paying attention.

When the things we inherited don't quite fit anymore

Many of us received our understanding of Christianity from particular communities, families, cultures, traditions, and historical contexts.

Those things can give us beautiful gifts.

They can also give us assumptions we have never stopped to examine.

Sometimes we discover that an idea we thought was simply “Christian” was also shaped by a particular culture.

Or by a particular understanding of gender.

Or power.

Or authority.

Or success.

Or suffering.

Or what it means to be a “good” Christian.

And sometimes we discover that something we were taught about God doesn't actually look much like the God we encounter in the life and teachings of Jesus.

That can be disorienting.

It can also be an invitation.

We don't have to rush to an answer

One of the things I appreciate about spiritual direction is that it gives us somewhere to not know for a while.

We can bring the question.

We can tell the story.

We can notice what happens inside us when we say it out loud.

We can pay attention to what we're longing for.

We can notice what brings life and what diminishes us.

We can ask where God might be in the middle of all of it.

We don't have to immediately decide whether something is right or wrong.

We don't have to replace one set of certainty with another.

Sometimes discernment begins with simply becoming more attentive.

A place to untangle

This is one reason I think spiritual direction matters so much.

Spiritual direction isn't about acquiring more information about God.

It's about becoming more attentive to the relationship we already have—or are trying to have—with God.

It's a place where we can ask:

What do I actually believe?

What have I simply inherited?

What ideas about God have I absorbed without realizing it?

What is life-giving?

What is harmful?

Where is God in this?

What might it mean to follow Christ here?

For me, spiritual direction is NOT:

• another thing to accomplish.

• another devotional to keep up with.

• another source of inspirational content.

Rather, direction provides a structure that helps me remember to pay attention.

To notice God in ordinary life.

To notice my own spiritual patterns.

To recognize the places where I've unconsciously absorbed ideas I don't actually believe.

And, perhaps most importantly, to remember that I don't have to earn God's love.

Maybe you don't need another answer

Maybe you need somewhere to bring the question.

Somewhere to be listened to.

Somewhere to discover that you're not the only person trying to make sense of faith.

Somewhere to remember that complicated does not necessarily mean broken.

This is part of what I hope group spiritual direction can offer.

A small group of people listening together for the presence and movement of God.

Not fixing one another.

Not telling one another what God is saying.

Not pretending to have everything figured out.

Just listening.

Together.

If you've been curious about spiritual direction—or if you're reading this and thinking,

“I think I need something like this”—I'm hosting a free Group Spiritual Direction

Information Night in Winnipeg on October 1 at 7 PM through Listen to the Quiet.

You don't need to know whether group spiritual direction is for you to attend this meeting.

You don't need to have your faith figured out.

Come curious.

This Spiritual Direction Group is part of a larger monthly offering by Listen to the Quiet team that includes:

• a contemplative service the third Thursday of the month at 7:30 at 61 Picardy Place, Winnipeg, MB. All are welcome! It's a lovely, contemplative service with communion and music in a beautiful space.

• a spiritual direction group the first Thursday of every month at 7pm. This will be a closed group to ensure confidentiality and sense of safety for the members. Registration is needed for this group. Find the registration links in the Listen to the Quiet "Listening Together" post.

• and a monthly Substack, writing on topics relating to spiritual formation, the online location of Listen to the Quiet.

Questions? Please (PLEASE) reach out if you have questions, concerns or comments.

Starting new things always involves a few hiccups or overlooked details. I would be so grateful for your feedback.

With love,

Jocelyn