One theme in this issue of The Way is that of spiritual direction. Ignatius' phrase, 'the person who gives to another the way and order in which to meditate or contemplate' (Exx 2) is an evocative, precise expression, for all its cumbersomeness. What is at stake is something more than mere accompaniment, more than supportive grunts or Rogerian repetitions. Often, the creative movement where the God is 'inflaming the soul' (Exx 15) escapes our notice at first. We need to be directed towards it. Nor is it just the director who is active; God's touch engages our reflective and imaginative powers. Any Christian conversion encourages us constantly to be re-envisaging ourselves and our society. The living God is constantly producing something new, something which involves cost and effort on our part too.
Robert R. Marsh, ‘Receiving and Rejecting: On Finding a Way in Spiritual Direction’, 7–21
At every point in the spiritual life, different impulses are at work, and we need to make choices about which to explore. Robert Marsh suggests a radically simple policy: stay with the movement and avoid the counter-movement.
Klaus Mertes, ‘Vocation, Freedom and Discernment’, 23–31
Ignatius says that the one giving the Exercises should be standing 'as in the middle of a balance'. How can we recognise when we are being directed appropriately?
Francisco de Villanueva, ‘Letter to a Former Retreatant’, 33–37
One of the most noted directors in the first generation of Jesuits explains how he understood the giving of the Exercises: a ministry of gentle support within an attitude of radical respect for the exercitant's freedom.
Anne Dooley, ‘Birthing and the Spiritual Journey’, 39–50
Anne Dooley is both a spiritual director and a midwife, and as such is struck by the parallels between spiritual growth and giving birth.
Mark L. Yenson, ‘Battered Hearts and the Trinity of Compassion: Women, the Cross and Kenosis’, 51–65
Many theologians sensitive to feminism have felt a need to abandon the traditional doctrine of Christ's self-emptying sacrifice on the Cross. But Mark Yenson believes that the language of self-emptying, or KENOSIS, can be retrieved. Jesus was not merely ‘handed over’ as a passive victim to be abused and killed. Rather, he gave himself over to the cause of God’s reign.
Beth Crisp, ‘Ignatian Spirituality and the Rebuilding of Self Esteem’, 66–78
Humility and generosity are virtues only if they are rooted in a sense of one's own value--something which is difficult for many people today. Beth Crisp reflects on how Ignatian spirituality can help us acquire or reacquire a healthy self-esteem.
Nathan Stone, ‘Servants of the Lord’, 79–92
Ignatius invites to imagine Christ as king, an image which retreatants today, and perhaps always, have found problematic. Nathan Stone explores images of kingship and authority in the Bible and reflects on how we can fruitfully engage with Ignatius' text today.
Bonnie Thurston, ‘‘A Scatter of Little Sights and Happenings’: The Poetic Vision of Ruth Bidgood’, 93–104
It is poets, above all, who expand our imaginations. Bonnie Thurston, a biblical scholar and herself a practisiing poet living in West Virginia, introduces us to the work of the Welsh poet Ruth Bidgood.
Mike Daley, ‘The Christmas Cover-Up’, 105–107
Many readers will be enjoying this issue at the season of Christmas or in its immediate aftermath, amid a commercialism that is all too addictive and sometimes tasteless. Yet our salvation is to be found only in the mess, chaos and shadows of 'the holidays'.