Janet Ruffing is professor in the practice of spirituality and ministerial leadership at Yale Divinity School and has trained and supervised spiritual directors for 25 years. She is one of the founders of Spiritual Directors International and the recipient of Washington Theological Union's Holy Wisdom Award in 2003.
Ruffing concurs with spiritual directors who call themselves co-discerners, listeners, companions, midwives, soul friends, and spiritual companions. She sees the role as the directee to recognize and respond to divine direction. The process through which this happens is telling stories of their experiences with awe and wonder, mystery and darkness, joy and light.
After charting six successive models of spiritual direction from the Desert Abbas and Ammas through the Vatican II model, Ruffing discusses spiritual direction as interpretive conversation, noting the complex role tradition plays in it. With commentary on narrative provided by David Tracy, Ulric Neissser, John Updike, Dan P. Adams and others, the author amplifies her original premise of spiritual direction narratives as an oral form of life story. She observes that one of the major challenges for the spiritual director is assisting directees in their appreciation and understanding of the central role of mystery in both contemplation and in everyday life.
Ruffing concludes with a glimpse into the ways the directee's narrative can affect the spiritual director. For professionals, this is a superlative resource.
