Spiritual direction with Tim Thornton
A Respite by the Fire
In our increasingly fast-paced, information-saturated, and digitally merged world, we are constantly being urged to be more knowledgeable, more efficient, more influential, more powerful.
More, more, more.
We may begin to see beauty as something to capture rather than to bring us into wonder or longing. We may slip into thinking of our lives as content to be consumed rather than gifts to be received. Our attention is exploited for profit. Our false images of ourselves are bait. Our addictions are opportunities. I have not even begun to describe the reality.
Do you ever sense you are losing some of what makes you human?
When is the last time you set aside time with a friend to slow down and pay loving attention to your inner life and your connection to the life-giving Creator?
In the words of Simon Brown, the role of a spiritual director is to hold “a place where tired bodies and spirits are warmed by the fire and refreshed. A friendly atmosphere where stories of the road are shared amongst travelers.”
About Me
I have always felt drawn to find God in beauty, silence, and slow, deep conversations.
Having navigated my own crises of faith over the years, I know the pain of feeling isolated by doubts, fears, and questions. I know the difficulty (and beauty) of surrendering strongly-held beliefs that are past their expiration date.
I love to hold space for those who are hungering, thirsting, and seeking (and more importantly, being sought!) in any stage of the spiritual journey.
I have always connected easily with ministry leaders of many personalities and traditions, especially those who are experiencing major transitions, personal questions, and “fear and trembling” as God works within.
As a traveling missionary and musician for many years, I have interacted with a wide variety of Christian traditions and have gathered many treasures from those experiences.
I was raised in a highly liturgical and sacramental denomination and have also participated in a number of spirit-filled and non-denominational expressions, not to mention para-church organizations. You might call me a contemplative charismatic. My church home is in the table-centered house church network in Colorado Springs called Kindred, which began in my living room and whom I serve as an elder.
What We Do in Spiritual Direction
If you’re reading this far, you may already have an interest in and possibly some familiarity with this ancient ministry that goes back to the Desert Fathers. Experienced voices in spiritual direction tend not to define the practice so much as describe it, while committing to being “amateurs” (a word, it is pointed out, whose root is related to love). Spiritual directors aren’t clinicians, but people of learning, experience, and discernment who can help hold space together with those who are seeking God, so those they accompany might better attune to God’s personal communication–which may come through many different (and sometimes surprising) means.
I think of a spiritual director as a contemplative companion.
One simple definition of contemplation I like from Walter J. Burghardt is to
“take a long, loving look at the real.”
In spiritual direction sessions we will take our time by the fire as fellow travelers, so to speak–or to use another Colorado-y metaphor, we will take a walk through the woods of your soul and take time to notice the movements. What kind of bird was that? Is something hiding there in the underbrush? If we are fortunate this might involve an actual fireplace in my shed or the actual woods near my home, but we will trust God to help create the right atmosphere even if we meet over a video call.
To put it simply, we will take a long, loving look at “the real” of your life with God.
I commit to pray for you outside of our time together. In our sessions I commit to make room for you to be your authentic self, to be my authentic self, and to invite God to be present. We will spend time in silence, scripture, and prayer. I will ask you questions–occasionally probing ones–and may at times bring or suggest particular kinds of reflective reading, or other spiritual practices for your consideration.
It may also help to say what spiritual direction is not. It isn’t primarily attempting to solve a particular problem. It isn’t teaching, pastoring, counseling, or encouraging, though of course those things are much needed gifts. And of course, it is not a panacea. Spiritual direction will be most helpful to those who, to whatever degree it is possible, also access the other graces available in the kingdom of God: the gifts mentioned above as well as participation in the church, biblical study with a lived response, engaging the living God through worship and prayer, the sacraments, receiving qualified leadership, and more.
Although I admit I was a bit skeptical when first hearing about spiritual direction (so it’s ok if you are too), I have come to believe that it is not only a wonderful ministry but also an absolute Godsend for our age.
If you are interested in exploring whether spiritual direction with me could be something God may be inviting you to consider, please email a brief introduction to tim@visioninvestmenthouse.com and we’ll go from there.
Financial and Time Structure
Introductory sessions to explore a potential spiritual direction relationship are without cost. If we sense a mutual leading from God to meet for direction, we’ll set a default monthly session which can be adjusted in advance as either of our schedules may require. From time to time we will pause to consider whether God may be leading us to continue, make adjustments, or conclude.
In a spirit of mutual generosity, I ask that you pay a self-determined rate between:
*If you have the ability to generously choose $125
$75 and $125 per session
you will help make spiritual direction sessions available to others
who may not otherwise be able to afford them
Fellow Traveler Spiritual Direction is a Colorado Sole Proprietorship; no tax receipts are offered.
My Training
I have a variety of experiences that have prepared me for the ministry of spiritual direction. In addition to my direct ministry experience discipling believers and a variety of practical and biblical training programs over the years, I have been the fortunate recipient of many wonderful years of friendship/apprenticeship with a number of faithful fathers and mothers in the faith. People who quietly and generously live out the love of Jesus are not to be underestimated.
I have completed a two-year spiritual direction training program with Sustainable Faith including many hours of offering and receiving spiritual direction, supervision, reading, and completion of the 19th annotation of the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius. I am committed to the ongoing supervision, learning, and ethical boundaries common to spiritual directors.
I have also been training for decades in the arts of observation, patience, solitude, surrender to the moment, and the untangling of impossible knots through many hours of fly fishing Colorado’s rivers and streams. If this quirky addition to my training paragraph makes you smile, there’s a good chance we would enjoy one other.
What I Believe
The Apostles Creed
I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
he descended into hell;
on the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.
The Nicene Creed
I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.