(3) Filling the Gap

Starting out at Shalem I was assigned a spiritual director, who
happened to be a fairly famous psychiatrist. No doubt this
assignment was intentional. He wasn't a Jungian; but as I
began to realize, this fellow had special insights that I found
very credible and valuable. And strangely I felt good being on
the receiving end in this relationship.

We also engaged in peer groups, wherein we provided
spiritual guidance to one another.

Of course, too, there was the academic part of this program
that consisted of home study--replete with reading lists
that covered lots of territories. The books ranged from the
practice of Spiritual Direction, to Faith-oriented studies, to
Morality and Ethics, to Spirituality, to Mysticism, to Prayer.
There were also religious works, mainly Christian with some
representing other faith traditions. But what I especially
liked was the emphasis on God's Holy Spirit.

Working through these two years at Shalem, I found myself
most prone towards the Holy Spirit as the true guide of my
inner eye. I was not adverse to Christianity, as some Jungians
are; but I came to understand it as the pinnacle of a large
pyramid of beliefs, traditions, and faith systems building
through the centuries. Looked upon this way, one can trace
how the different elements of Christianity had evolved from
a steady continuum of god-imagery and ensuing religions.
I felt that Some One stood behind all this evolution of thought,
and that had to be what many call the Holy Spirit.

So if I was really going to invest into any of this, my pick would
be the Holy Spirit or Great Spirit that hovers over the All of us.
As for *experiencing* the Spirit, I would have to wait for its
wind to blow upon me.