Make it Work!

I'm a huge fan of Project Runway. I especially enjoy Tim Gunn's famous line "Make it Work" which he uses to encourage the designers as they frantically race the clock to complete their next design projects. This may be just the incentive an aspiring designer needs to hear - however, in the practice of Spiritual Direction the directive to "make it work" can only spell "disaster".

Sometimes people seek Spiritual Direction because they are stuck in their relationship with God. They want new tools, new prayers, and new insights that will somehow get them back on track or "make their relationship with God work". I suppose this comes from our consumerist-oriented society. We can buy just about anything we want & we want what's easy and what works for us. (i.e. Did you know that most people choose a church based on the accessibility of parking?) So why not apply those principles to our spiritual lives?

Because spiritual growth can be long, slow, and at times tedious. The Holy Spirit cannot be manipulated. There will be times of delight where the presence of God is palatable and times of darkness, where one feels as though they've drifted off alone to sea. These will be times of waiting. I'm in one at the moment. And I'm hearing a great amount of silence. This brings up feelings of anxiousness as my ego demands that I not only make a choice, but the RIGHT choice. And yet, these feelings of fear are a reminder that I'm living in my head again. Life is not found there but in the letting go of what I believe brings life (that would be control). I can't make my life "work" yet I have difficulty letting this idea go.

Spiritual growth is in no way linear. It's fluid, circular, and always in motion. Spiritual Direction is about relaxing into that way of thinking and being. It's a call into deeper relationship with the Divine and with one another. So if your spiritual life is not "working" for you perhaps it's time to let go of what you thought would bring you life and engage in the rich and nuanced adventure of what we are all called to - which is to love and love and love and love.