About Spiritual Grounding

by Lauren & Oliver

What is spirituality? Many people - religious or not - think of spirituality is as synonym for piety, something that is reserved for saints and holy people. This pie-in-the-sky understanding of spirituality leaves little room for those of us who long to find spiritual practices that anchor and ground our daily lives.

Spiritual Grounding was birthed out of our desire to honor the yearning for an earthy, accessible, everyday spirituality that we have witnessed in countless people throughout our ministry work. We have seen a growing hunger for approachable, life-giving, and challenging spiritual resources from Christians of all denominations, old and young alike. We believe that this hunger for spirituality is a gift from God, a sign of hope, and the work of the Spirit.

We can hardly imagine a better response to this reality than the spiritual treasure trove of the Ignatian Tradition. Through our years of work in Jesuit apostolates, we have seen the fruits of this unique approach to faith. We see how accessible the examen is; we see how prayer that is grounded in people’s lived experience is dignifying; and we see how using the imagination in prayer invites folks to experience God in fresh and personal ways. This nearly 500-year-old spiritual tradition seems made for this moment.

We were both personally transformed by our own experiences of making the Spiritual Exercises. Both of us were life-long Christians, and yet God used the Exercises to deepen our connection with God and (to borrow a frequently used cliché) set our hearts on fire. Our study and practice of spiritual direction has convinced us that this ancient retreat—grounded in daily prayer and a relationship of trust between director and directee—is a privileged place to discern God’s movement in a person’s life. Spiritual Grounding attempts to make Ignatius’ powerful spiritual practices accessible to a broader audience.

We hope the prayers and resources we’ve crafted will help you find solid spiritual ground so that you can become more deeply aware of the God who has loved you into existence and grow into the person God is calling you to be.