"God is in this place - How awesone!" Spiritual direction and the significance of place
The role of reflection on scripture is well established in the companioning of directees, notably so in the Ignatian tradition, among others. The role of "God's other book", creation, has received much less attention. In the case of regular sessions of spiritual direction following a directee's spiritual journey, place may have little or only passing significance. On the other hand, the physical setting of a retreat over a number of days, a week or more, may have quite a profound impact on the directee and enrich the evolving conversations with a director. While the focus continues to be on the directee's prayer and ongoing formation in the spirit, this experience may be quite differently nuanced if the retreat is located in a desert, mountains, or in a river or island location.
This paper, drawing on the author's experience of offering retreat
leadership and spiritual direction in a range of geographic realms, will
explore the possible connections between the significance of place, and
the apophatic/kataphatic spectrum of prayer. The focus is on the
situating of "place" in the phenomenology of prayer. The starting point
is that God is understood as the dwelling place of the world [and
cosmos], rather than vice versa. The immanence of the Spirit of Christ
in time and space means that prayer, theological reflection, and
conversation with a spiritual companion, happen in the particularity of
place, earthed in an experienced landscape of God's good creation.
Robin Pryor PhD is a Uniting Church Minister with long experience
of ecumenical retreat leadership and spiritual direction. Former
President, Australian Network for Spiritual Direction, and Member,
Founding Council of AECSD. He is involves with Dadirri Christian
Retreats and Labyrinth Meditation at St Andrews Beach near the
Mornington Peninsula, Victoria.
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