This meditation was written by Peter Hulit, a member of the Stillpoint faculty, and was read to open the January session of The Art of Spiritual Direction Year Two. We encourage you to not just read it, but take a few moments to pause and engage in this as a practice in solidarity with all in Southern California living with the aftermath of the wildfires that have ravaged the land and so many lives. It starts with the breath . . .
Read MoreStars of Hope: Companioning the Journey to Wholeness
Read MoreWe also made space to wonder about the pain and fear of those who had made choices different from our own. All the work we had done the previous day to practice compassion and deep holy listening, it showed.
Read MoreAs political, religious, and social landscapes continue to shift, our directees will bring all of it, especially an oppressive normative culture and all of the places that the system intersects, e.g., classism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, and most profoundly, systemic racism. In all they bring to us our spiritual companions implicitly want to know we can hold space and provide a container to explore these oppressive conditions. Are we doing enough?
Read MorePerhaps as you read the word “creativity” you shy away or shut down. Maybe your first thought is “I am not an artist, or creative” and therefore you fail to entertain the possibility, nay your ability, to engage in contemplative creativity. What if we omitted “art” or “being an artist” from the concept of creativity? What if we broadened the sense of what being creative means...
Read MoreA plumb line, in case you did not know, is a device used to determine verticality or to measure the depth of something. It has some kind of weight attached at the end of the line which is lowered to measure the depth. When I learned about it, I pictured in my mind a plumb line being lowered into the ocean depth, through the choppy waves and lukewarm water close to the surface, down further into the stillness of the deep.
Read MoreThe Divine Spirit always seems to be palpably present as we light a candle together in person or on Zoom and share compassion and acceptance with each other. Regardless of background, creed, racial identity, sexual preference, or any other perceived difference, nothing is ever allowed to impede our joining hands as we co-create meaning and value with each other.
Read MoreStillpoint’s programs are intimate and relational, small groups with a high ratio of staff to participants. With each program, more people join the Stillpoint community, become part of this tribe of contemplatives, and the ripples of change grow incrementally larger.
Read More“Empires rise and fall. Sometimes the center does not hold - a job, a marriage, an economy or a nation and still people love each other and go out of their way for a stranger. Hospitality to yourself preserves your inner freedom and strengthens your agency, so you are never cowed or bowed by the behavior of others. Hospitality calls us to put one foot in front of the other, lifting each other up all along the way.” -Judith Favor
Read MoreThese are important questions to ponder, especially as the spiritual formation landscape is rapidly changing. More and more are responding to the call to become spiritual directors at younger and younger ages. To be a spiritual director is no longer a second stage of life vocation.
Read MoreThat inner world is a great place for us listening artists to go to practice, to rehearse, our precious art form. After all, how can I truly listen to another if I’m unable to listen to myself? That inner world is a great place for us listening artists to go to practice, to rehearse, our precious art form. After all, how can I truly listen to another if I’m unable to listen to myself?
Read MoreBeing in community does take skills, skills that can only be learned in community. I’ve come to believe that compassion is one of those skills: compassion for ourselves as well as compassion others. Sharing, listening, and discernment also. These are all communal practices, and integral to the art of spiritual direction.
Read More
