Abide in the Spirit

05/01/2026

Free Write Friday: There isn’t anything inherently special about group spiritual direction. It doesn’t “work” because of the talent of the person facilitating the group or the skill of the group members. This is truly the work of the Divine that we notice in community.

Today you are invited to write about the last time that you noticed God with or through other people and the spaces where you are currently longing to experience God in community.
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This is our final guest post this week from Michelle Bodlea (pastor and spiritual director in Central Pennsylvania - www.abideinthespirit.com). We hope you have enjoyed getting to know what group spiritual direction is a bit. If you are thinking of taking a step toward this practice, our Anam Cara spiritual directors have a few different offerings coming up starting in the next few weeks - you can find them all here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DXzH9r7muU4/?img_index=1 (or at the links in our bio)!

Thank you, Michelle, for offering your wisdom and invitation into this space this week!

05/01/2026

Midday Meditation: A More Life-Giving Story

We are a people of stories
Stories we tell
And stories we keep secret

But we all need to have the invitation of a more life-giving story
Where Gospel meets grace
And our story is seen as sacred

So, come people of God,
And tell my story back to me
Because I can’t tell it on my own.
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Guest post from Michelle Bodle, who is a pastor and spiritual director (and Anam Cara Peregrini) in Central Pennsylvania who strives to create sacred spaces of holy listening. Michelle has a passion for spiritual direction. You can find Michelle at www.abideinthespirit.com (and find options for spiritual direction groups in our bio, if you are drawn to this practice of [in part] telling and witnessing of our stories in community!).

05/01/2026

05/01/2026

We live in a world where we constantly engage with people, yet feel isolated and lonely.
It’s a paradox that doesn’t make sense to our minds, yet for many of us, it is the reality. Perhaps it is because we do not have many spaces where we can show up in the fullness of ourselves and be known.

Group spiritual direction is one way we can show up and be with each other intentionally.
We noted yesterday that group spiritual direction doesn’t have to look the same for every
setting. Some groups may begin with a check-in for each person present, and others begin with Lectio Divina. Some have time at the end to reflect on the whole of what happened in the space, while others send each other forth with blessings. Some may involve spiritual exercises, while others focus on a discernment question. There isn’t a right or wrong way to go about group spiritual direction.

You may be wondering what the next steps are. Check out the Anam Cara calendar (anamcara.com) for group spiritual direction. Give yourself the gift of being in community. And see where the Spirit may be leading you - with and through other people.
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Guest post from Michelle Bodle, who is a pastor and spiritual director (and Anam Cara Peregrini!) in Central Pennsylvania who strives to create sacred spaces of holy listening. Michelle has a passion for spiritual direction. You can find Michelle at www.abideinthespirit.com.

(And a separate post will be going up shortly with a few upcoming spiritual direction offerings from the Anam Cara Community, so keep an eye out for that, if you are interested in taking a next step!)

05/01/2026

Artistic Afternoons: Group spiritual direction is a container for transformation.

When I think of transformation, I think of Lego blocks and the act of building and rebuilding. As you work with Legos or other building blocks this afternoon, where are the places in your life that you have been transformed and where are the spaces that you are still waiting to be transformed?
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Guest post from Michelle Bodle, who is a pastor and spiritual director (and Anam Cara Peregrini) in Central Pennsylvania who strives to create sacred spaces of holy listening. Michelle has a passion for spiritual direction. You can find Michelle at www.abideinthespirit.com.

04/30/2026

Midday Meditation: Accompany Me

I grew up as a child
Wanting to be in the company of other people
To hear their stories
And tell my own
To just be seen.

But as a grew older
People became unsafe
Community became a buzzword
And a weapon
So I tried to hide away.

God, you keep insisting me into the wild places
Of community
And creation
To learn that you call us to a different way
Where we can be known and loved.

So community,
I’m trusting you
To accompany me
With that which is most precious and vulnerable
My very self.
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Guest post from Michelle Bodle, who is a pastor and spiritual director (and Anam Cara Peregrini) in Central Pennsylvania who strives to create sacred spaces of holy listening. Michelle has a passion for spiritual direction. You can find Michelle at www.abideinthespirit.com.

04/30/2026

Guest post from Michelle Bodle:

We have talked about the scaffolding of group spiritual direction and what this space is not for. What CAN this time be? I want to emphasize that this can be because there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to group spiritual direction. Instead, this is what a model could look like, for drawing together into community for the sake of the soul.

When I lead group spiritual direction, I will often start with an invitation to be present to the others in the group and God. Sometimes this can be through a prayer or a spiritual practice, but we want to take intentional time to transition from the rest of our day into this space, whether in a physical meeting space or online. We then hear someone’s story. It may be a longing that they have or a question that they have been wrestling with, but it is something that we listen to, not with an agenda, but simply to be present. Then we bring what is shared before God, asking whether there are any clarifying questions we need to ask to accompany this individual well. I always explain that clarifying questions are facts we need to know to support the individual well. Then we offer those questions to help give a bit more shape to what the individual may want to explore.

The bulk of our time together comes through asking questions, sharing scripture, or offering images that will help the person go deeper. These are offered without explanation, but simply as a gift. The questions are ones that get us beyond simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers. The scripture and images are followed by a question like “How does that strike you today?” These gifts are truly for the individual sharing, without the rest of the group trying to add their own interpretation.

Perhaps my favorite part of each group is what happens at the end. We take time to pray if there is an invitation for each of us as we leave this space. We allow the person who shared to go first, as they have graced us with their story. Then the rest of the group members can say what their personal invitation is, simply because they have been in this space today. This is an acknowledgement that the Spirit is moving in all of us in this time and space.

04/29/2026

Artistic Afternoons: Group spiritual direction is a place where we are intentionally open to God.

Today paint a picture of openness for yourself. Is it a wide open field or a flowing river? A circle or another shape?

There isn’t one singular definition of openness. What does your painting invite you to consider about being open to God and God’s openness towards you?
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Guest post from Michelle Bodle, who is a pastor and spiritual director (and Anam Cara Peregrini) in Central Pennsylvania who strives to create sacred spaces of holy listening. Michelle has a passion for spiritual direction. You can find Michelle at www.abideinthespirit.com.

04/29/2026

What helps to make group spiritual direction a sacred space? There isn’t a secret formula in order to create a space where our souls can open up, but there are pieces of scaffolding that we can put in place. The first piece of scaffolding may not make sense at first glance, but it’s silence. We live in a world filled with a lot of noise. Some noise we choose, like turning on music or the television, or filling our space with words on the screen or the page. Other noise comes at us, such as conversations, Zoom meetings, and time with family. Silence in group spiritual direction acts like an anchor, inviting our soul to show up and know that it is safe - that others are not going to be talking at us, but making space for us.

The second piece of scaffolding is twofold: trust and confidentiality. These are words we all think we have agreed-upon definitions for, but we actually need to speak them into the space. Trust is holding what is said in confidence; confidence is knowing that what’s said in the space stays in the space. I actually go as far as to say we hold double confidentiality, which means that yes, what you say in group spiritual direction stays here, but also that we aren’t going to talk about what is discussed in the group in an outside space. Trust and confidentiality allow openness and vulnerability, which can be so healing in a world that often feels unsafe.

Lastly, to show up for group spiritual direction, we need to clearly state what this space is and is not. This is not a space for teaching, advising, or telling your story in response. This is not a space where we listen to what another person is saying because we so eagerly want to share our story. In other words, this is not a place to listen for comparison. Instead, this is a space where we listen to each other’s sacred stories and treasure what is shared as a gift as we companion one another on this spiritual journey.
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Guest post from Michelle Bodle, who is a pastor and spiritual director (and Anam Cara Peregrini) in Central Pennsylvania who strives to create sacred spaces of holy listening. Michelle has a passion for spiritual direction. You can find Michelle at www.abideinthespirit.com!

04/28/2026

Artistic Afternoons: Group spiritual direction is grounded in holy mystery. We can talk about what it is and is not, but at the end of the day, it is relationship with God and other people - which we can make sound a lot more complicated than it is.

Break out the crafting clay today and make an image or shape that represents mystery to you. What do you notice about what you have created? Does it have to be perfect in order to speak to you? What about the imperfection of the crafting clay reminds you of sacred space and community?
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Guest post from Michelle Bodle, who is a pastor and spiritual director (and Anam Cara Peregrini) in Central Pennsylvania who strives to create sacred spaces of holy listening. Michelle has a passion for spiritual direction. You can find Michelle at www.abideinthespirit.com!