Frequently asked questions.
What are your spiritual views?
When we earnestly seek, we will find, but not directly or finally.
These words from the Gospel of Thomas represent the non-linearity of the spiritual journey, and they resonate with my lived experience of faith…
“If you are searching, you must not stop until you find.
When you find, however, you will become troubled.
Your confusion will give way to wonder.
In wonder you will reign over all things.
Your sovereignty will be your rest.”
I set a wide table.
In Spiritual Direction, I am with you as you listen to the still small voice calling to you directly. My role is to hold space for what is emerging.
Here are some posts that will give you a sense of me:
How to Move Through a Dark Night of the Soul
Faint Outlines: Loving the World by Tending Our Souls
Please Tell Me What To Do: The Gift of *Not* Receiving What I Thought I Wanted in Spiritual Direction (This is an early post that will give you a feel for the foundations I’ve been building on.)
I am experimenting with new ways of creating and sharing: On Substack at Faint Outlines and on YouTube on Creative Sessions.
Who are your teachers?
Wisdom is not ever abstract or static. Every bit of wisdom I offer and embody has flowed through other beings.
There are folks whose wisdom we recognize interiorly and are drawn to. They are like homing beacons, vessels that wisdom flows through. They become our teachers, whether in person or from afar. Our inklings and intuitions take root and mature as teachers provide shelter and nourishment.
Cynthia Bourgeault says, “There is a deep and pristinely clear ‘something’ in each one of us, regardless of the outer circumstances of our lives, that has the capacity to recognize Wisdom when we meet it, and it is the nature of Wisdom teaching to call this ‘something’ forth. But until the spark of recognition actually goes off in us, Wisdom remains invisible.”
These are the teachers who have called forth this ‘something’ in me.
Rev. Dr. Shannon Michael Pater
Cynthia Bourgeault
Heather Ruce
Are there other “spacious accompany-ers” you recommend?
I’m so glad you asked! Here is a starting place for your exploration:
Chad Glazener | Glazener Studio | Portland, OR & Online
Through a process of deep listening and co-exploration, I paint original abstract art to help you navigate thresholds in your life: seasons of transition, change, and becoming.
Katie Morales | In-Person and Online Spiritual Direction | Beaverton, OR
Carin Huebner | Creative Guide | Denver, CO
Amy Sytsma | Soul Care and Accompaniment | Grand Rapids, MI
Court VonLindern | Camp Counselor Court | Online
Spiritual accompaniment for wonderers and wanderers of the margins.
Heather Berndt | Spokane, WA & Online
Spiritual Direction, Soul Care, and Expressive Arts
Kaysie Strickland | Spiritual Director | Listening House | Chatanooga, TN & Online
Dr. Shannon Michael Pater | Notice The Journey | Online
Trauma-Integrating Spiritual Director/Supervisor/Teacher
How long will we go on looking for truth everywhere outside ourselves?
How many books do we have to read, how many people do we have to ask?
Always we want to learn from outside, from absorbing other people’s knowledge. It’s safer that way. The trouble is that it’s always other people’s knowledge. We already have everything we need to know, deep in the darkness inside ourselves.
- Peter and Maria Kinglsey in “As Far As Longing Can Reach”