This article ignited a deep reflection. Surely Spiritual Accompaniment is a skill that is honed over time? A voice echoed as I began to read the article; regarding pastoral care, “sure, it is just winging it!”[2] My mind began to close in. Was this going to be another ‘winging it’ article? Being aware of prejudice and bias is important. I needed to acknowledge that I was entering into sacred reading with a sour taste fermenting in the background.
Robertson helpfully introduces the topic slowly with the suggestion that what I will be left with is a ‘collage, a mental tableau, a written improv of how” he understands “ministry of spiritual direction[3].” The ministry of spiritual direction resonates with me because I see it as a space where God’s love floods into the room and is funnelled and shaped by the words and the silence, by the participation of all parties in the room; the Accompanier, the Accompaniee and the Holy Spirit.
I got the impression of a dance, Robertson does not use that analogy but his words spoke of a moving together and of playing together. An Accompanier needs to decrease to allow the Holy Spirit to increase was apparent in much of the article. Quoting from Nachmanovitch, Robertson introduces the concept, entrainment, which means when people are doing something repetitive they fall into a rhythm. A rhythm of perhaps all hitting their nails with hammers at the same time, like synchronised swimmers. Women who live together; their bodies’ cycles tend to synchronise in this way. And in this mesh of dancing, playing and hitting nails with hammers I got a sense of breath.
The sacred space of Accompaniment is a breath, is a place of breathing and a safe space to breathe. It is as if the room breathes too and all participants breathe together. For the Spiritual Accompanier this space of breathing can be the scary place of improvisation because in the decreasing of self, the risking of significance the process slows down. There is an unfolding of story and the gathering of story and mystery into an eternal dance of love, mercy and grace. When the Accompanier allows there lack to be present, God will emerge; something new, unbidden and mysterious will enter into the dance.
Reflecting on this challenging article I am profoundly changed. The sour taste became sweet. Yes, there is a need to be skilled; learning about how to ask questions. Also the intuitive, the part that cannot be taught of knowing when to hold a silence and when to break it. Now comes the thread of improvisation that is not ‘winging’ it but is that humbling quality of making the God the main thing; enabling the Spirit to speak into the space both to the Accompanier and the Accompaniee. It is allowing the breath of mystery to enter in the room. I was not left with a collage as Robertson intimated but a changed view on the Spiritual Accompaniment process.
[1] David Robertson, The Art Of Spiritual Direction As Improvisation,” in Presence: An International Journal Of Spiritual Direction 13 (2) June 2007.
[2] Archdeacon Ken Higgins, tutor Pastoral Care, lecture September 2019, Edgehill Theological College Belfast.
[3] Ibid 6
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