Thinking Virtuous Thoughts (Or Trying To. . . )

[qos]

I have a paper on "Women and Leadership" to write for my Women, Spirituality and Leadership course: 3-5 pages to be uploaded by Thursday at 8pm. I have approximately 1/2 a page written.

I have a meeting with my shamanic teacher in less than two hours.

And Laurell K. Hamilton's new Princess Merrie book just arrived from Amazon.
(That means intrigue, royalty, sex, power, magick, and violence, for those of you unfamiliar with the series.)

Some evenings I simply don't want to be a virtuous student.

Comments

Hey, I have that paper!

[preacha.livejournal.com]

Actually, it was a ten-page, on women in urban ministry. It might pass. Good luck balancing the necessary with the enticing. Maybe the more you do, the more synonymous they will become.

Re: Hey, I have that paper!

[qos.livejournal.com]

Maybe the more you do, the more synonymous they will become.

That's a good thought.

What's interesting about this time in my life is that it's one of the very few times that I'm finding school nearly constantly aggravating. Usually I thrive in school, especially when pursuing a nearly entirely elective program. But during these past few months of transition, I have been experiencing the growing conviction that what I need to learn to be true to my vocational path lies outside the traditional classroom.

More bulletins as events develop. . .

Re: Hey, I have that paper!

[preacha.livejournal.com]

So what is your traditional classroom right now? Are you still studying comparative religions? What school? What program? I went through a very difficult transition period at seminary, where I knew I needed something different, but I had no idea what that would be. It sounds like you have some good ideas though and some good starts that you're already pursuing...

Re: Hey, I have that paper!

[qos.livejournal.com]

I earned my MA in Comparative Religion (with an emphasis in "Religion and Culture) in 1988.

Now, I'm in the third quarter of my second year at Seattle University, a Jesuit seminary with an ecumenical program, which is officially supported by 10 Protestant denominations. It's a wonderful community, a place where differences are truly respected, and people seek to understand the gifts of difference. I entered as a Swedenborgian (a small Protestant denomination most people have never heard of -- which I hadn't heard of until a few years ago), intending to get my M.Div. and become a Swedenborgian pastor. Then I went through a painful inner shake-down and realized that that was not my path. Spiritual Direction seemed more suited to my gifts and personality -- and to the blended path I've walked in the course of my spiritual life.

Then, a few months ago, I started having numinous dreams, which I explored with my spiritual director. And then some synchronicities started happening, and visions, and realizations. . . and I started realizing that the "locked box" I had always felt was inside me, the place where my deepest and most powerful spiritual gifts lay hidden, just beyond my ability to touch or comprehend, had never really been locked, that I had been exercising a kind of spiritual gift all my life but never recognized it for what it was, nor thought to exercise it in service.

Along with that, a kind of separate-but-related realization, was that what my life of spirit needs now is not more book-learnin' but a deep commitment to practice, to embodied spirituality, to plumbing my own mystic depths. There is so much to be learned in seminary. . . but I can always come back for more 'head stuff'. (Even though much of it has nurtured heart and soul as well. I've had classes that were more uplifting, challenging, and inspiring than any worship service.) But I need to do the deep dive into the intuitive, the mystic, the whole-body and get out of my head.

Especially since I have always seen my ministry as being to those who for whatever reason do not find a home within traditional churches. One of my gifts is to help people find language for their own spirituality, and then to companion them as they map the territory. Maybe they end up in a community, maybe not, but they draw closer to the Divine, know themselves loved by a God/dess who wants to be part of their life, even if they don't belong to a church.

So I still see myself as being a spiritual director/companion, but now I've broadened that to include a very real possibility that shamanic journeying and counseling will be part of what I have to offer/share/serve with.

It's getting late and I'm typing fast. Please feel free to ask more questions if this doesn't make sense. I need to write a more thorough account for my LJ. . .