The world is a strange place.

It’s made up of so many seemingly disparate yet inter-related parts that, on the whole, work so beautifully together and constitute what we call life. I’m reminded of the visually stunning Volkswagen commercials from a while ago that played this out. They would typically start with an apparently random question, “Do you like kung fu?” then would proceed to lead you down a purportedly logical succession of inter-related items ending with “. . then you’d like the new Volkswagen Jetta.” You may have a similar sense about the flow of this article while you read and reflect. Stick with me, it may yet render what you seek.

What is the most potent aspect of the conversation known as the ‘emerging church’? I think I know . . and it’s nothing new. Let me qualify that last statement, what’s most potent about the “growing, generative friendship” known as the emerging church is a vital element of its ontological DNA - the question. It’s most potent because people have difficulty escaping the gravitational pull of an unanswered, open-ended question. It’s also somewhat unnerving when cognitive dissonance becomes your shadow, revealing itself when you are washed in light of any intensity. But there is life in difficulty and possibility in ‘pain’. Every death gives rise to the inescapable reality that something fresh will follow.

In many ways, the current (predominantly Western) conversational piece around theology and ‘occasional’ methodology within Christianity is not unlike the role that the Anam Cara (Irish for ‘Soul Friend’) or spiritual director plays in an individual’s life. The question - as mentioned above - is the sole ‘tool’ that the spiritual director utilizes while with the directee. Of course the Scriptures, prayer and further reading materials are available as well, but in the flow of conversation nothing parallels an appropriate, timely question. It’s the question that gives birth to conversation and in my imperfect illustration of relationship between the wider Church and the emerging church as directee and director . . deeper conversation would be welcomed. The benefit of this conversation to the wider Church is of unparalleled significance to its vitality and (in some cases) longevity.

I recently finished two years training with the Irish Jesuits. My course of study and practice was in the field of spiritual direction. The experience was transformational. I had one simple prayer entering this course - that I would be challenged - and I most definitely was! The greatest and most intense desire in my life is to become more like Jesus; that is to say, to become the man God designed me to be and dreams I can become. Keeping in line with that central desire, my heart requested ‘challenge’ from the Three-In-One because woven within the fabric of challenge is the possibility for change. Strangely, the same possibility is seemingly unwelcome by many of the institutional (if only in one’s inner life) aspects of Christianity, as seen in the apparent unwillingness to engage healthily in the very present reality of the church in crisis and a culturally-informed connection to one’s context.

Since much of my mind is immersed in issues of personal formation, cultural translation of timeless realities and creativity, naturally I’ve noticed a few similarities between the art of spiritual direction (I use the term narrowly) and the emerging church (I use the term broadly). What follows are a number of those observations which will be teased out in more depth:

The emerging church is to the wider Church as a spiritual director (Anam Cara) is to a directee in that:

* the Anam Cara is to help the directee recognise God’s voice and activity in their life through the use of appropriate questions

* the Anam Cara is to ask questions of the directee that invite reflection leading to a new course of action / pattern of thought

* the Anam Cara encourages the directee to invite God to speak into their situation by exploring the endless connections and correlation of Scripture to the whole of life

* the Anam Cara offers the directee suggestions for creating opportunities to communicate and connect with God via differing spiritual practices - ancient and contemporary

* the Anam Cara helps draw attention to inordinate, unhealthy attachments to things as well as resistances to God’s advances of love in the life of the directee

It seems that most new movements of the Spirit of God are resisted at first for fear of the unknown future God is creating before us and inviting us into. It’s the same fear that causes us to place God into a tightly knit theological tapestry which has a definite genesis and finale; or to use a cliche . . to put God in a box. A truer illustration of the Spirit’s work using this imagery would entail a never-ending tapestry varying greatly in colour and design and becoming more so as it unfolds. It’s because of the innate fear of the unknown imbedded deep within our nature that we need a more objective perspective on our living - one that will help us reflect on where God is showing up and what He might be saying to us.

**End Part One**