Spiritual Direction Under the Open Sky

“Look at the birds of the air… See how the flowers grow.” Matthew 6

When we think of spiritual direction, we might think of it as something that usually happens indoors in a quiet room, with two chairs and a candle on a table. But what might happen if we invite the natural world to join the conversation?

On the Living from the Heart podcast, eco-spiritual companion Deb Metzger described the soul as having an ecosystem. Like land, our inner lives hold light and shadow, tended gardens and wild edges, growing seasons and fallow ones. As we spend time outside, nature can provide us with additional cues and language to describe what’s happening inside us.

Taking Spiritual Direction Outside

The two approaches blend easily. Something might come up during a spiritual direction session, perhaps a loss, a longing, or a decision. Deb says that in addition to considering it indoors in the “traditional way,” (she does both), you can take it outside and contemplate it there. Maybe sit under a familiar tree, walk a wooded trail, or stand barefoot on the ground. When we do this, the outer landscape helps inform our inner landscape, and we may find the two are actually bonded together because they are!

Seeing and Beholding

Deb also encourages us to “behold” rather than merely observe. When we do this, a tree stops being scenery and something that contains deep wisdom. A stone, a stream, or a bird becomes a presence with its own story, something worth spending a few moments with rather than something we just quickly pass by. You might also find that when we give that kind of attention, gratitude tends to rise up, along with the reminder that we belong to a community of living things that is much larger than ourselves.

There’s something about being outdoors that loosens whatever feels stuck. Have you found that? “Beholding” the sky, wind, water, and shifting light have a way of drawing us out of our obsessive, often fruitless thinking and gently back into our bodies.

None of this replaces traditional spiritual direction; it expands it. The quiet room, the wooded trail, the sacred conversation, and the living earth are all places to listen, connect, and engage. 

May the open sky make room in you for whatever the Divine is longing to say.