Roberta Flack wrote a song back in the 1970s describing a moment of connection, a breathless time when she felt drawn into the poetry of a stranger, exposed and known in a way that was new to her. She didn't use god language, but she described vulnerability, transformation and validation. This is spirituality.
But maybe music doesn't do it for you.
Have you ever sat at the shore of a lake at sunset? What stirred in your heart? Did you feel a longing, or even a connection with the rocks and trees around you, something you simply couldn't put into words, but felt it as an aching in your heart?
We are all spiritual beings. We don't all confess a faith in a spiritual being or even presence, but every single one of us, at some point in our lives, has felt that stirring, that need to be part of something bigger than ourselves.. We have all wondered what our purpose was, and how we fit into the busy-ness (or stillness!) of the world around us.
You may not resonate with someone else's church service or prayer practice, but perhaps looking into the eyes of a new born child has caused a shift within you?
Or being at the bedside as someone draws their last breath?
I have found in those moments that deep, deep questions arise within me, and I can't always answer them on my own.
When I first visited my own spiritual director I was amazed at how she heard things I did not know I was saying. She listened and followed my meandering monologue, and noticed the things that mattered. I didn't even know they mattered, but she heard something in my voice or body language that made her question or highlight what I had said. I would leave sessions feeling like a better person. I left feeling heard, validated, and able to meet the world with a more loving and vulnerable posture.
That is what I hope for every person who trusts me with their story. I try to listen, lift up what seems important and test it with you, then help you to gaze into that deep place of vulnerability. Maybe killing someone softly with a song sounds too dramatic, but the sense of having new life, hope and purpose is truly life changing.
Everyone has a story, and I want to hear yours!