The Gifts of Spiritual Conversation

I was recently interviewed by Eric Clayton for the Jesuit podcast AMDG. The interview itself, it occurs to me now, was very Ignatian, insofar as Saint Ignatius put so much emphasis on discerning the Spirit in the give and take of spiritual conversations, from heart to heart. As Servant of God Sr. Thea Bowman once said, “Please share your treasures with me, but I also want to share my treasures with you.”

We cover a lot of topics, from the immersive power of music and of learning an instrument like the piano, as I experienced as a child, to the spiritualities of the Black Catholic Church, St. Ignatius, and Thomas Merton, to the Buddhist teachings on the practice of living fully in the present moment, which I imbibed especially in my time at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. And what does the “artistic spirit” have in common with the prophetic spirit, the struggle and spiritual journey of the social activist?

On the whole, we might say that the gifts of spiritual conversation grounded in vulnerable human friendship – of simply “taking the time” with one another – converge on the practice of waking up to the manifold gifts of the present moment – or as my music teacher at Naropa put it, while sitting by my side at the piano, the call to bring ourselves into the “needlepoint of nowness.” With thanks to Eric, I hope you enjoy this play of conversation between Eric and myself, linked here.