Wisdom Stories: A Spiritual Journey
Written by Christine Dietz, Therapist & Spiritual Director
As a child, I was a mystic and a writer. I loved to wander outside, make nests in the tall grass, dream on the big pink granite rock in the field. I wrote poems and stories in school, when I was supposed to be reading about Dick and Sally. The adults in my life seemed to think that a bright child who read the dictionary and wrote poems should be directed toward math and science. I resisted, but my dreamy afternoons on the rock in the field were soon over. So, apparently, was my writing voice. My creative writing efforts in undergraduate school received a lukewarm response, and I changed my major to sociology. My father, a scientist, was pleased.
Fast forward to 2001. Exhausted from my battle for tenure at the University where I taught, I stumbled into the office of an expressive therapist. The years of writing a dissertation and journal articles had taken its toll. I said, “I have lost my creativity and my spirituality.” I didn’t know it then, but my spiritual journey had begun. Two years later, I was training to become a spiritual companion and leaving academia.
This year, I will celebrate my 20th anniversary as a spiritual companion. My definition of spiritual companionship is, “To walk with others as they become who they were created to be.” As people open themselves to being present, listening to and acting upon the movement, impulses and images of the Divine within them, I notice that they often become more creative. Some turn to writing – stories, essays or poetry. Others to photography or art. Is there an inherent link between creativity and spirituality?
I love the creation stories in Genesis. Genesis 27 says, “And God created humankind in the divine image, creating it in the image of God—creating them male and female.” (The Contemporary Torah, Jewish Publication Society, 2006). According to this story, we are created in the image and likeness of God. We are both the result of and part of the creative force that brought forth all that is. Creativity is our birthright. In her article, “Creativity as Spiritual Practice,” Rabbi Adina Allen describes the creative process as a partnership with the Divine.
“What this relationship requires of us is an openness to the creative process: a willingness to venture into the unknown, the ability to be present in the moment, an openness to our intuition and allowing ourselves to follow where it leads us, and a deep humility in knowing that nothing we bring into the world is ours alone.” (Source: My Jewish Learning).
This is exactly what happens in spiritual companionship.
In 2016, I offered “Wisdom Stories: A Class for Elders in Training,” an exploration of personal autobiography, at the Center. I emphasized that everyone was a writer, free to ignore the “rules” they had learned about how to write and what was “good.” I offered writing prompts, which they were free to ignore, and words of encouragement from Natalie Goldberg, Julia Cameron or Anne Lamott. As listeners, we focused on how their stories touched us, and what spoke to us, without praise or criticism. In 2018, I offered another 8 week class. The group asked for more. I offered another 8 weeks. The group asked for more yet again. And so I said, “let’s try this as a spiritual direction group.”
Seven years later, we continue to meet monthly. I have stopped offering prompts – the writers follow their own interests and instincts. They have stopped trying to follow the “rules,” expressing what is emerging inside them. Their voices are more powerful, authentic and free, as a sense of play, deep grief or a new form emerges. We notice that, when one writer expresses their deep truth it resonates with all of us—we’ve been there, too. And often, we notice a core theme or experience connecting the writings in a particular session. Each time we meet, I feel awe, wonder and gratitude at how this process opens us to the presence of the Divine and our creative expression. And my frozen creativity is beginning to thaw.
Please, if you will, enjoy an example from one of our writers, Ken Rummer, who felt called to share his expression in a piece titled “In the Fog.”
Christine Dietz, LISW, DMin, PhD, is a psychotherapist and spiritual companion dedicated to helping individuals reconnect to their innate wholeness and renew their sense of hope and possibility. With over 40 years of experience in hospitals, community mental health, and private practice, she specializes in supporting those navigating anxiety, depression, life transitions, chronic illness, grief, LGBTQ+ concerns, and spiritual direction. Christine is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker and spiritual director with an MSW from the University of Iowa, a PhD in Sociology from SUNY Buffalo, and a DMin from the Graduate Theological Foundation. She is also a graduate of the Lev Shomea Training Program for Spiritual Direction in the Jewish Tradition. Passionate about storytelling, Christine is a writer, avid reader, and amateur photographer with a deep interest in spirituality, particularly Jewish spirituality. She enjoys teaching adult education at her synagogue and currently works part-time at Mind and Spirit Counseling Center, offering telehealth services to individuals from all faiths and spiritual traditions, as well as those with none.