Observe Exhibit "A"...

If someone were trying to make a case for all clergy types to have mandatory oversight in the area of spiritual discipline and spiritual direction (and that's not such a bad idea), well, I would be Exhibit A. The caption under my picture would read "Don't become this woman! See your spiritual director today!"

It is easy for people to assume that because we're always so busy with all that "God stuff" we must be in touch with our own spiritual stuff. Frankly, if I were on the other side of the pulpit, that's precisely what I would think. But in my experience, the more God stuff I do (with the emphasis on "doing" -- as in attending to the functions of congregational life which are many), the less in touch I tend to become with my own soul.

I have observed that over the past several months, I have been immersing myself in fascinating facts. I'm reading "Reformation" by Diarmaid MacCullogh, which is a terrific perspective on Reformation history. I've started reading Stephen Mitchell's translation of "Gilgamesh" -- also good.

But I know what I'm really doing. I'm retreating to my comfort zone. When I'm all knotted up spiritually, I beat a hasty retreat back to where I know I can feel adequate -- my intellect. Not that I'm the sharpest knife in the drawer, but at least when I'm busy acquiring facts and filling my intellectual coffers, I know that I might have a theological morsel that I can pull out later if needed.

It's somewhat similar to Phantom Scribbler's occasional references to stocking up on snack foods for the apocalypse. (I'll confess I've started doing the same -- buying water and goodies for those "just in case" situations.) You never know when you will be glad to have that stockpile of snacks.

And I never know when I might need to dazzle someone with an impossibly trivial bit of church history. Now let me be clear....learning is ALWAYS a good thing. The problem is that my stockpile of intellectual snack food is attached to my identity like a zebra mussell on a Great Lakes freighter.

Of course, all the info gathering is about self-esteem. I refer you to numbers 27 - 34 in the August 30th post here at InnerDorothy....the one entitled "100 Things About Me".

More to the point, my spiritual guide, whom I sadly have not seen for awhile will shake her head woefully when she hears of this and say, "Sue, Sue, Sue...." She knows the routine. I need to reconnect with God on a deeper level. I need to pray not only for the needs of others, but for the enrichment of my own relationship with the Holy. I know all this, but I need a nudge.

Providentially, here's my nudge.

I am looking forward to this study of Richard Foster's "Celebration of Discipline" and I'm approaching it as one of the most important pre-Advent activities on my calendar. Thanks Steve for the opportunity to share the process with you and the other virtual celebrants.

Onward......