divine appointments

How did I discover spiritual companionship? Why have I never left it?
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It was late autumn in Minnesota 2007. I was standing at the front desk of the registrar’s office at Bethel Seminary. I was 27 years old and had just finished my first term of my Master’s program. The term had been very challenging after having been out of school for six years. The young woman behind the desk happened to be covering for the full-time office administrator while she was on holiday. We started talking about her experience as a student at the seminary, and she asked me if I had ever heard of Spiritual Direction. That conversation changed the course of my life.

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I didn’t know anything about Spiritual Direction, but I did know that I wanted to deepen my inner connection with the Spirit. There is a saying that seminary is where believers go to lose their religion. I could sense that among some of my peers - their religion had become an intellectual exercise and a job rather than a source of life and healing.
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During that first class period, with Jeannette Bakke as my professor, I knew that this was part of my life purpose. I quickly went out and found my first spiritual companion, Lisa Harrell. She was bold and compassionate. She listened and asked the right questions at the right times. She was very careful at not slipping into offering therapeutic counselling, even though that was also her profession. Lisa walked with me for several years on my journey of experiencing the active presence of the divine.
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This journey has not been straight forward or easy, but I am forever grateful for people like Jeannette and Lisa to have come along side me, encouraged me, and constantly reminded me of the presence of the Spirit in my life. I’m certainly not the same person I was 13 years ago. My foundation in Christianity has been reinforced and made rich by practices and teachers from many spiritual traditions. With all this in mind, I hope to bring the kind of love and acceptance I was shown into my practice with others.