Surprisingly \u2014 or perhaps not so surprisingly \u2014 some people seek spiritual direction without ever intending to follow it.\u00a0 Like some who seek therapy, they prefer to discuss the challenges they face, rather than transcend them.\u00a0 They seem to be made of Teflon.\u00a0 Nothing you tell them seems to stick.<\/p>\n
Behavior of this kind can be willful \u2014 the refusal to respond to respond to God\u2019s prompting \u2014 but more often than not there are deeper issues:<\/p>\n
In some cases, the directee has yet to understand the deepest roots of the spiritual challenge he or she faces.\u00a0 Unseen and unnamed struggles continue to disrupt the spiritual progress they might otherwise make.\u00a0 More listening is still needed.<\/p>\n
Other directees fear the changes that transformation might bring.\u00a0 Spiritual growth is a good thing, but it is also inherently disruptive.\u00a0 And it takes effort to live into the changes that it brings.\u00a0 Some directees will evade the responsibility for living into those changes as long as possible.<\/p>\n
When the prospect of change is daunting, it is also easy to identify what is familiar<\/em> with what is good<\/em>.\u00a0 \u00a0When that happens, the familiar can enslave us \u2014 we reinvent the patterns that are comfortable.<\/p>\n That\u2019s important information for a spiritual director, but it is also important information for spiritual directees.\u00a0 If you see Teflon behavior surfacing in your life, ask God for the spiritual imagination to identify the source of your resistance, and the strength to break free.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Surprisingly \u2014 or perhaps not so surprisingly \u2014 some people seek spiritual direction without ever intending to follow it.\u00a0 Like some who seek therapy, they prefer to discuss the challenges they face, rather than transcend them.\u00a0 They seem to be made of Teflon.\u00a0 Nothing you tell them seems to stick. Behavior of this kind can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":240,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spiritual-direction"],"yoast_head":"\n