Souljourner's Day 2

Yesterday, we began the day at 6:30am with morning prayer. After breakfast, we had a great lecture from Margaret Guenther on Jesus as Spiritual Director. She took us through a variety of scriptures (Samuel & Eli, Story of the Rich Young Man, Story of Zaccheaus, Beggar at Pool of Bethsaida, Woman at the Well, and Blind Bartimaeus) and reflected on how Jesus acted as a spiritual director in those contexts.

Then we broke up into our small groups and practiced spiritual direction in our dyads and shared feedback. It was a very emotional time. For midday prayer, we had a "this is holy ground" kind of meditation. It was okay, but I was tired from the lecture and the emotional small group and had trouble focusing. My advisor had his laptop stolen from his car in the parking lot over night. That was a real bummer.

For lunch we had grilled chicken alfredo with a salad. After lunch, I met with my advisor, and then we listened to another lecture, this one on the Practice & Pitfalls of Spiritual Direction.

After vespers, we had dinner (ham salad sandwiches with potato salad), and then we broke up into an "enrichment" experience. We had the choice of any one of: clay, energy medicine, or sacred beads. Since I took the clay class last year (and I'm taking a pottery class at the Lawrence Arts Center), I skipped clay, and instead went to sacred beads. We talked a little about the history of sacred beads and the use of sacred beads in many religions of the world (hinduism, islam, orthodoxy, catholicism, anglicanism, buddhism, zoroastrianism, etc.). I made a set of anglican prayer beads. Dean would be proud! :)

It took a while to get those beads done! By the time I was done, the building was closed for the evening (but I wasn't the only one there, in fact others stayed long after I left), and I was hungry. So I took a quick trip to McDonald's for an apple pie dessert.

After I got back to my room, I had a quick chat with Dean and then went to bed at about 11:00pm, exhausted. Just before I went to bed, I remembered about my advisor's laptop, and got dressed again and ran out to the car to get my wallet--I have this bad habit of leaving my wallet in my car--and took off the stereo faceplate and brought it inside. Then I went to bed.

P.S. Just came across this great quote from Gerald May:
"Wondering how you can get out of the situation you are in, is the realm of psychological counseling.
Wondering what God would have you learn from this experience, is the realm of pastoral care.
Wondering how to remain in relationship with God in the midst of whatever is going on (difficult or joyful alike), is the realm of spiritual direction."