Dusting for the Fingerprints of God
How Spiritual Direction Can Change Your Life
What does your story look like when you allow God to be in control of the narrative?
What happens when your finite human strength is surrendered to the infinite divine strength of a loving God who never fails?
Jesus says:
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”
—Revelation 3:20 (NIV)
Will you answer Jesus’ call?
Spiritual direction is one way of saying yes. It is a practice of creating intentional space to listen for God, notice God’s presence, and respond to God’s loving invitations in your everyday life.
What Is Spiritual Direction?
Spiritual direction has been described in many ways:
“Recognizing God’s amazing work in us and among us in the ordinariness of human existence.” —Margaret Guenther
“The practice of holy presence and the gift of shared wisdom… to help us awaken as we journey so that we can recognize the sacred within.” —Rev. Dr. Barbara A. Holmes
“A relationship between two people for which the foundation is trust—trust first in the Spirit of God.” —Therese Taylor-Stinson
“A means of God to open the path to the inward teaching of the Holy Spirit.” —Richard Foster
At its heart, spiritual direction is about slowing down enough to dust for the fingerprints of God. It is a sacred conversation with a trained listener about God’s presence in your life. In that conversation, you are invited to notice the deeper movements of the Spirit, reflect on your journey, and open yourself to God’s transforming love and grace.
What Spiritual Direction Is Not
Spiritual direction is not counseling or problem-solving. It is not about fixing what is broken or giving advice.
Instead, as Jen Kloss writes:
“We insist that something is already happening, and God is already doing a good, beautiful, and holy (even if hard) work in the lives of those who come for direction. The director’s role is simply to help the directee notice God’s work accurately and respond to it vigorously, joyfully, and habitually.”
The director is not the expert in your life. God is. The director simply comes alongside you to help you see more clearly where God is already at work.
My Philosophy of Spiritual Direction
Every spiritual director has a way of proceeding shaped by their experiences, training, and faith. Mine is rooted in love.
What separates Ignatian spirituality from other forms of Christian spirituality are its simplicity and its focus on love. I hold onto John 3:16 as the center of my theology, and I practice my faith by focusing on three things: loving God, loving myself, and loving others.
This philosophy is how I approach both Ignatian spirituality and Black women’s spirituality. They work together because they share the same foundation—love.
For me, love takes the shape of holy listening. One of the greatest acts of love I know is to truly listen to another person. Listening creates space for God’s voice to be heard and God’s love to be felt. As one writer puts it, “Listening is a central element in spiritual direction, the required foundational skill.”
An Invitation to Listen
Spiritual direction is not about having all your questions answered. As Henri Nouwen once wrote,
“To receive spiritual direction is to recognize that God does not solve our problems or answer all our questions but leads us closer to the mystery of our existence where all questions cease.”
That is why I love the image of dusting for the fingerprints of God. The fingerprints are already there—on your story, your choices, your challenges, your healing, and your joy. Spiritual direction simply helps you slow down, look closely, and see where God has been present all along.
If you are longing for a sacred space to reflect, discern, and rest in God’s love, perhaps God is inviting you to explore spiritual direction.