Wanted: Spiritual Director for Two Sick Pilgrims

In my first post for this blog, I wrote that we were setting up a soap box and hoping some interesting people would show up. Boy, did you. Our traffic for the last two months caught us off guard. We’d assumed we’d be writing for ourselves here (though we secretly had modest dreams of speaking to four or five others). Of course, we suspected there were people out there who might identify with the struggles and obsessions we share (*please don’t remind us that we aren’t special snowflakes*) but we were surprised, relieved, thrilled, and maybe a little concerned to find that there are way more fellow travelers than we suspected. All these pilgrims, seeking healing, beauty, companionship. Hungry for real food.

The thing is, we thought we’d have plenty of time to mark the trail and figure out exactly where we’re taking this band of misfits. Now we find ourselves on a path in the Dark Wood, all of us standing around with our packs, looking at each other and thinking, where to now?

Remember that moment in Superman?

Superman: Easy, miss. I’ve got you.

Lois Lane: You – you’ve got me? Who’s got you?

I’m a writer, not a preacher or minister or a counselor, so I won’t ever want to presume to offer you advice or guidance. When I write for US Catholic, a priest looks over my work to make sure I haven’t gone off the farm. He doesn’t censor me, but he points me in the direction of the facts about my arcane, often obscure, sometimes incomprehensible religious tradition. If you join me here, we’re in this together, which means I’m just as likely to get you lost as to illuminate the right of way. I aim to write well, but don’t hesitate to point out when I’ve obviously taken a wrong turn theologically or spiritually. That’s the point of all this, really. We’re walking together.

In my Band of Misfits post, I referenced the types of people Eric Elnes suggests you might gather round you in the Dark Wood. The first is a mentor–what Catholics and other churchy types call a spiritual director. Jonathan and I have been thinking we’d all benefit from such a person, an experienced field guide we can check in with now and then to make sure we’re not becoming a cult or anything.

So, with hopes that the perfect candidate will float down to our soapbox with an umbrella, we wrote this job description.

WANTED: THE PERFECT SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR FOR SICK PILGRIMS

The ideal candidate will:

1. Be Catholic. We’re all about ecumenism, but this person needs to understand our particular neuroses. We’re partial to Jesuits around here but we aren’t too picky.

2. Love art, believe the Church should foster the creation of art and not that schlocky kitsch we settle for in most of our parishes, and understand artists as witnesses to the transcendent. We make no apologies for the pretentiousness of that sentence.

3. Believe in the devil. This is a tough one. You should believe in him, but not to the point of obsession. What we’re looking for is a healthy belief in the adversary who wants to devour our souls. Yes, we wrote that with a straight face. See number one.

4. Jonathan says this person should be familiar with Joy of Evangelism by Pope Francis. And get how art can be an expression of that joy. (note to self: read Joy of Evangelism)