Spiritual Mentors
As Doug so helpfully pointed it out in his comment on the last post, mentors are an invaluable source in the discernment process.
I am constantly blessed by the presence of mentors in my life. I have a vocational mentor, a spiritual director, and several spiritual companions who keep asking the deeper questions and who keep listening to the deeper tones of my life. And of course there are the mentors who come to us from across the years and miles in the form of their writing.
Keith Anderson and Randy Reese in their book, Spiritual Mentoring, cite Richard Baxter:
Writing to … Puritans in 1656, [Baxter] listed four groups of people who needed special attention: the immature, those with particular corruption, declining Christians and the strong. The last group, he declared, needed the greatest care. (p. 25)
Who among us has not benefited from the wisdom of others as we’ve discerned our callings in life? Sometimes it takes humility for us to receive this kind of care – and when we are feeling particularly strong, perhaps this is when we are the most weak, and the most in need of the deeper question from a mentor – the longer silence in the presence of a spiritual companion – so that our life may speak, so that the Spirit may speak.
And for those of us who are called to be mentors, Anderson and Reese offer these centering principles:
There will be three primary themes or empowerments you will watch for in order to develop the ever-unfolding story of your friend’s life: intimacy with God, ultimate identity as a beloved child of God and a unique voice for kingdom responsibility. (p. 29)
How has the ministry of a mentor impacted your life? Or as someone who also mentors, what have you found to be the greatest joys and challenges of this glad task?
Mentoring has had a big impact on my life. As I mentioned in my comment on “God’s Will,” I spent a number of post-undergrad years in the marketplace struggling to discern if I should go for an MBA, an MCS or an MDiv. It was my mentor/pastor at the time (about seven years ago) who helped me to sift through my wonderings, hopes and fears…and it was fascinating to notice how the flow of question-and-reflection (him to me, and me to him) provided all sorts of helpful insights to rise to the surface.
For example, through the process I learned that some factors I had assumed were nudges away from the call to ordained ministry were actually nudges _toward_ it. I remember discussing how my dad never attended church when I was growing up, because he’d felt beaten up numerous times by church conflict (and by church leaders). I figured…man, as a pastor I’d get crushed under the pressure of church politics!
Thanks to my mentor, I was able to take a fresh look at my dad’s experience and realize that this very intense aspect of his life (and its intense impression upon me) was actually an encouragement towards considering ordained ministry: it had generated a “reflex” in me to “keep my head-up especially in the corners” (to use an ice-hockey analogy)…and, combined with some practical skills I had picked up along the way “putting out fires” in my customer relations marketplace employment, I came to see how this part of my family story fit into the context of God’s story – and, over the years, time after time I have seen the benefits of this “reflex” that this mentor (and others) pointed out in many situations in ordained ministry and congregational life generally.
It’s my hope and prayer that many will connect with mentors and benefit from the wisdom of others as they discern their callings in life!