Hello {{Constituent First Name}}!
In our June session with the current cohort, the topic was Desire, Resistance, and Discernment. Though I have been through this module multiple times as a staff member, every time, it lands differently, it settles a little more deeply into me, I make new connections, and I walk away with new insights.
This year, I felt myself invited to internalize in a more comprehensive way the primacy of desire in our spiritual journey. Our invitations into something new always begins with desire - a longing, attraction, allurement. We are drawn to something more, drawn into the creative energy of the universe. And it is through the power of acting on our desire that we receive both the delight and motivation to continue to respond to the invitations that transform us.
But we have all kinds of desires - and that is where discernment comes in. How do we become intimate with our deepest desires, the ones that reside in our seat of wisdom, our holy desires? And which of our desires emerge out of our ego, or our fear, or our unhelpful narratives, or our defenses? How do we let this self awareness shape the decisions we make?
You are receiving this email because you have noticed a desire - an allurement towards becoming trained as a Spiritual Guide - and you have begun to take steps towards it. If you do choose to move into the Spiritual Guidance Training program, we still see our two years together as an ongoing process of discernment - how are you being drawn into this ministry? Where is this training leading you?
The practicum component of the program is essential in your exploration of these questions, and thus we place a significant emphasis on it. Starting in our very first gathering, you will begin to step into the role of guide. We prioritize giving you the opportunity to embody the postures and skills of good spiritual guides. This happens in circles with the full cohort, in your small practicum groups, and with two outside seekers for a year while in the program. Practicum is a learning lab in which you get to practice, explore, learn, reflect, and give and receive feedback to each other as you each hold the question about where this desire to participate in this program is leading you.
In gratitude for spaces in which we can listen to our deep desires,
Nicki Nelson
SGTP Coordinator |
