Reading Your Life's Story

Spiritual mentoring is a particular kind of friendship in which, according to Keith R. Anderson, "two or more people walk together in heightened awareness of the presence of yet Another"—the Holy Spirit. "Spiritual mentoring is not a complicated process that requires technical training and complex protocol," Anderson continues. "It is essential, authentic, and maybe even natural human speech that is focused, disciplined and nurtured by training for one of the hardest natural things we do: listening reflectively to another. It is sacred companionship as life is lived and story told. Available to almost all, it requires deliberate recruitment, preparation and practice."These pages unfold a vision for mentoring that invites us to read our own lives as narrative and to learn how to enter the narrative of another life. The book covers the scope of the mentoring relationship through various seasons, offering helpful and inspiring metaphors for mentoring. All are invited to enter the mentoring story.



Keith R. Anderson (DMin, George Fox Evangelical Seminary) is president of The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. He is the author of A Spirituality of Listening, Spiritual Mentoring: A Guide for Those Giving and Receiving Direction, Friendships That Run Deep, Is This The One? and What They Don't Always Teach You at a Christian College.Anderson previously served as dean of spiritual formation and vocation at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, and as dean of spiritual formation/campus pastor at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was director of Vocare, a program for theological exploration of vocation funded by a $2 million grant from the Lilly Endowment, and has been the Senior Fellow for Spiritual Formation for the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities since 2000. His parish ministry experience includes serving urban parishes in Washington State, Michigan and Minnesota.

Introduction: Mentoring Matters
Part I: Uncovering Your Life Story


1. Reading with a Consecrated Purpose


Spiritual Mentoring as Hospitality


2. God as Author


Spiritual Mentoring as Farming


3. Life as Text


Core Curriculum


4. The Mentor as Coreader


Styles of Mentoring


5. Imperfect People as Mentors


Spiritual Mentoring as Cura Animarum
Part II: Uncovering the Movements of Spiritual Mentoring


6. Starting Well


Spiritual Mentoring as Disillusionment


7. What Does a Mentoring Session Look Like?


Asking Great Questions


8. Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith


Spiritual Mentoring as Ecology


9. Creating the Pace


Spiritual Mentoring as Prayer


10. Sustaining Momentum Through Accountability


Spiritual Mentoring as Geography


11. Ending Well


Ten Essentials for the Mentor's Library


Acknowledgments


Appendix 1: Lectio Divina


Appendix 2: Transference and Countertransference


Appendix 3: Discernment Questions for Choosing a Mentor


Appendix 4: What About Differences That Might Exist Between Mentor and Mentee?


Notes

"Reading Your Life's Story is everything and much more than the author is willing to claim, offering relevant, timeless insights into a vitally essential kind of friendship. Keith Anderson understands that discovering our life's story is a spiritual journey that we must not embark on alone. Like its author, this luminous, thoughtful book is filled with wisdom, grace, and truth, reminding readers that those who fail to know their life's story risk creating a breach between what they believe and how they live."



"For anyone seeking wisdom on how to navigate being a spiritual mentor, Reading Your Life's Story is an amazing place to start. Furthermore, it offers incredible gems for anyone who wants to be a better witness to others." weniger anzeigen expand_less