Three primary practices give shape to walking well with others as a friend or a mentor: listening, question-asking, and prayer. My reflections in this blog series are adapted from our VP3 resource entitled, A Mentoring Guide: Christ • Conversation • Companionship. I highly recommend it.
I have been thinking a good bit about “the why” of mentoring and spiritual friendship in the Christian life. And as I let my mind go with this question once again, I found myself circling back to an essay I read years ago by Annie Dillard entitled “An Expedition to the Pole.”
I pin my hopes to quiet processes and small circles, in which vital and transforming events take place.
Rufus Jones (1863-1948)
Adults need a space and place to move deeply into their own experiences and grow in the light of Jesus and his way in the world. Simply telling others where they must go or what they must do won’t cut it. Our mentoring tables need to be set for unhurried conversation.
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