Spiritual direction is a sacred listening practice that invites you to slow down and notice God’s loving presence within the joys, sorrows, and ordinary rhythms of your life. While it shares a compassionate posture with counseling and coaching, it is distinct in its purpose. There is no goal setting or problem-solving. It is not focused on behavior change or even on resolving pain. Instead, it is a spiritual formation practice that grounds us in every season of life.
We trust that God is already active in each person’s life. As spiritual directors, we come alongside others as spiritual midwives—attending to what God is forming and birthing within them. We are more concerned with one’s attachment to God than with attachment to ourselves. Thus, spiritual direction sessions often hold more silence—however much the directee desires—than most conversations. We offer stillness and gentle questions that turn attention toward God and the self, companioning with curiosity and empathy.
Spiritual direction has captured my truest longing for how to be with others. It is the way I had been searching for during my graduate studies in counseling and again throughout nearly a decade in church planting. Receiving my training as a spiritual director through Sustainable Faith was a deep homecoming for me. It is a joy and privilege to journey with others as they recognize God’s nearness.
It is an honor to join the Samaritan Center team of spiritual directors. I offer a compassion-based approach, holding space to attend to the body’s wisdom and the heart’s movements. My presence is informed by trauma awareness and insights from Internal Family Systems (IFS). I most often companion young women who are awakening to the wounds of their past, longing for a new way to relate to God, navigating faith shifts and life transitions, and learning to recognize God’s image within themselves. I follow a contemplative Anabaptist faith centered on Jesus’ way of love, peace, and attention to the Spirit. My family and I attend Laurel Street Mennonite Church in the city of Lancaster.
As you consider your own journey of listening for God’s presence, may you sense God’s love billowing beneath you.
Marjorie Mott, Spiritual Director
Offering contemplative spaces and writing,
— nourishing places to notice God’s nearness.
Bio @ about.me/marjoriemott
Poetry and practices on Instagram at @marjoriemottsd
