My deepest experience of God occurred as I undertook the Spiritual Exercises (SE), and believe me, I am still unpacking the fruits of that 30-day encounter. For this reason, I feel I will be most privileged if given the opportunity to show others the way to God through the SE. But a question that stings me at this point is: Am I adequately equipped for the grand task of retreat giving (or being a director of the Spiritual Exercises)?
Maybe yes! Of course, Ignatius did well in the first twenty annotations of the Book of the SE to offer guidelines from which a spiritual director may ascertain the directee’s level of spiritual progress and thus, lead him or her deeper into the oasis of encounter with God. A glance through those annotations may be enough theoretical tutorial. Moreover, two semesters’ coaching on “Ignatian Spirituality”, coupled with an occasionof anchoring a spiritual direction under the mentorship of our spiritual Father, von Nidda, SJ, is enough practicum for the noble task. Whatever follows is just means of perfecting the already developed ‘art’ of retreat giving.
Yet, experience has taught me that retreat giving is not merely some practical, intuitive or even intellectual art. Retreat giving is in itself, first and foremost, a ‘spiritual exercise’ or if you like, a spiritual art which demands some level of spiritual disposition on the part of the director. Unfortunately for me, most of the writings I have come across on the art of spiritual direction (including annotations 1-20 of the SE) dwell more on the disposition of the director towards the directee. Once again this leaves me wondering: What ought to be my spiritual disposition as a retreat giver in order to more fruitfully show a directee the way to God?
I found consoling insights in response to this question from my contemplation with the biblical passage of Philip’s encounter with the Ethopian Eunuch (Acts 8: 26-40). In this imaginative prayer, Philip was presented to me as an archetypal spiritual director who fruitfully led his directee – the Eunuch – to God. In a number of ways, the acts of Philip in this passage strongly depicts some characteristics of the spiritual disposition required of me as a (potential) director as I show (potential) directees the way to God.
The first characteristic is prayer. Philip was only confident to approach the Eunuch after getting an assurance that such was God’s will. Spending some time in prayer before each session with the directee has the effect of creative in the director, a reflective and solemn ambience within which the directee may feel most comfortable to openly dialogue (with the director) as if it were with God. With this, I have the conviction that nothing is more deserving than placing a directee into the hands of the One whose face the directee has come to seek.
The second characteristic is an awareness that as a director, I am an instrument of God, rather than a helper of directees. Underlying this characteristic is the fact that the initiative of drawing people to God is God’s – and never that of the director (Jn 6:44). The director in this case is just a means through which God concretizes this initiative. Philip epitomized this by receiving all instructions from God, and never acting from his own initiative. The idea of being God’s instrument, rather than the directee’s helper is essential to me, at least is one way. It deflates in me any form of pharisaic pride that may arise from the thought that I am spiritually ‘better’ than the directee. (For one only help the other in a capacity in which the one feels better off than the other).
The third characteristic consists in developing a spirit of detachment from the directee (in terms of not wanting to oversee the overall affairs of the directee’s entire life). It takes a praying director to gain a sense of satisfaction at God’s work in the directee’s life to such extent that the director readily trusts that in his/her absence, God will still continue His good works on the directee. In Philip’s case, this was manifested by the readiness and swiftness at which he was routed away from the Eunuch after the Eunuch’s baptism. I find this high sense of detachment very appealing especially as it occurs to me that I can neither supply for all the spiritual wants nor solve all the problems of a directee.
Nevertheless, I doubt that Philip’s readiness to part ways with the Eunuch was never a sign of his ‘careless’ abandonment to the hands of fate. On the contrary, I strongly believe that as Philip was “caught up” by God’s spirit, he must have done what St. Paul did to the Ephesians at his point of departure from them – that is, commending them to the able care of God (Acts 20:32). For this reason, I am convinced that a fourth characteristic as much as possible, a votive offering of my directees to God whenever they come to mind is the greatest gift I owe them, even beyond the temporal limits of our physical encounter of spiritual direction.
And so, the spiritual tutorship continues as I rest with the hope that all whom we come across may, in some ways, leave with a feel of greater spiritual clarity. AMDG.
Christian Uchechukwu EKESIOBI S.J