I am currently reading Gerard Hughes’ excellent book: God in All Things. Hughes suggests there are four ‘life domains’ in which the Spirit of God can be active. I find his description of these domains to be helpful when considering the movements of the Spirit in (and around) my own life; and also in my work as a spiritual director.
The four domains are:
1. The Intra-personal: how we relate to our inner self, or selves – our moods, feelings, emotions and mental states. This domain is the source of our behaviour, and as such it is vital to pay attention to it.
2. The Inter-personal: our relationships with our immediate circle – friends, family, work colleagues etc. Genuine spirituality is expressed here in how we seek to show love, patience, forgiveness and compassion, aware that these relationships are not always easy or enriching.
3. The Social: our attitudes and behaviours towards other members of the human family, in particular those from whom we are often separated by our (or others’) fears and prejudices. This domain therefore encompasses our response to social issues, such as racism, sexism and injustice.
4. The Environmental: our inter-relatedness with all creation, “with animals, plants, forests, rivers and oceans”, as Hughes puts it. A healthy spirituality here is expressed in our awareness of the intimate connection between our own well-being and that of the environment we live in. Linked to this is our acceptance of human responsibility for the climate and biodiversity crises that are threatening our, and the planet’s, flourishing and survival.
Hughes challenges us all to reflect on whether, in our own lives, we allow room for the Spirit to flow and flourish in all of these domains. Or do we tend to zoom in on some to the omission of others? We can become inwardly-oriented, disconnected from the world we live in. Or over-active, neglecting to take care of our inner life.
I believe Hughes’ challenge is also relevant to Spiritual Direction, which perhaps finds itself most comfortable exploring the first and second domains. True, it also steps into the third whenever directees consider their engagement with social issues. But how often do directees feel able to consider their engagement with the fourth domain – with their own ‘place and space’? With the street they live on and the air they breathe? And with the climate crisis, the rapid pace of environmental degradation, and mass biodiversity loss?
From my own experience and from speaking with others, directees are increasingly bringing fourth domain issues to spiritual direction. We shouldn’t be surprised. The destructive effects of human activity on the environment and the climate are becoming all the more visible. We are becoming increasingly aware that our success in distancing and disconnecting itself from our natural home not only leaves us diminished, but also leaves the non-human world depleted to a point that looks increasingly like a point of no return.
Spiritual direction can respond to these ‘fourth domain’ crises in one of two ways. Either it can become more (some might say even more) inward-looking as a form of escapism. But by doing this, it fosters the “split spirituality” that Hughes warns us so strongly against in his book. It creates a faux inner piety that bypasses these urgent and seemingly insurmountable planetary crises.
Or it can offer a safe space to look firmly and squarely into them. At its best, Spiritual Direction explores both the inner ebb and the outer flow of the divine call on our lives, so directors should be comfortable moving between the fourth domain and the first (passing through the second and third en route...).
What might ‘fourth domain spiritual direction’ look like in practice?
It might mean allowing directees to be brutally honest about their feelings of hopelessness or overwhelm when faced with the ‘NOW’ of the climate crisis. Then helping them discern a path towards their own active, heartfelt, spirit-led response.
It might mean encouraging directees to find hope and healing in the mystery and wonder of nature itself – its seasons, its diversity, and its proclivity to life even in the most barren of places.
It might mean offering spiritual direction to climate activists facing the risk of abuse or arrest as they speak truth to power.
Or it might mean accompanying those whose church communities are suspicious of ‘green lefties’, associating environmental concern with political or theological liberalism, and viewing it as a distraction from the primacy of sharing the Good News.
These are just initial ideas. I’m sure you will have your own experiences, and I’d love to hear more about them, if you’re happy to share them. Just contact me via the link at the bottom of this blog.
Pope Francis wrote in Laudato Si:
"The external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast. For this reason, the ecological crisis is also a summons to profound interior conversion".
My next blog will describe some exercises that can be useful in helping us exploring the ebb and flow between the first and fourth domain, either individually, or with directees.
If you have any comments or experiences you’d like to share, you can message me below.