HALLOWED LISTENING

ABOUT

Hallowed Listening is a spiritual direction ministry. Broadly speaking, spiritual direction is a holy conversation between a director and a directee.

Technically speaking, spiritual direction is listening intently how God is moving in a person's life. It’s also listening intently to how other people are trying to respond to God's movement in their own lives.

Throughout the listening, the spiritual director asks a variety of questions to the directee. The questions are not meant to force an interpretation of event, but to help the person process more with God.

Furthermore, spiritual direction should help the directee experience peace and/or spiritual consolation in their current situation. Not only that, but the sessions should help a minister discern God’s will in making an election in their situation.

Bottom line: The whole session is to help foster a stronger relationship between the directee and God.

About

Bio

STANTON NELSON

Currently serving the congregations at Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas. Known for his compositional talents, Stanton has written hymns and service music to better cohere the liturgy in each worship service. Having grown up in a Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod church and graduated from The King’s University with an MDiv, he enjoys gleaning revelations of God throughout all the denominations. He is an ordained minister and maintains credentials through Kingdom Global Ministries.

Stanton has released ten original composition albums and has self-published over 250 pieces of music. Mr. Nelson is also the first prize winner of many piano competitions, including the Hays Young Artist’s Competition 1st Prize Winner (’11) and the Robert M. Spire Solo Piano Competition 1st Prize Winner (’08). He holds a Bachelor of Music (Piano Performance) from the University of Kansas and a Master of Music (Collaborative Piano Performance) from the University of Michigan.

Mr. Nelson also recently started a non-profit organization, Stanton Nelson Ministries, in order to compose pieces for hospice patients to honor their lives of faith. This non-profit stems from receiving a Doctor of Pastoral Music from Southern Methodist University (SMU). After graduating from SMU, Stanton stayed around and received his spiritual direction training from Perkins School of Theology.

What Spiritual Direction Can Be

Spiritual direction can be about processing stories. Narratives help give meaning to a person's life and God is a God of narrative. It makes sense, then, that people discern God through the narrative of his or her own life. It is usual for the directee to share a story of some kind. More specifically, a story of some divine nudging, guidance, or encounter. The spiritual director then builds the framework and details of the story in their mind to journey along.

Spiritual direction can be seen as retreating. First, it is retreating from the normal hustle and bustle to listen with God and another person. Secondly, retreating can involve experiencing a spiritual retreat or a pilgrimage. This is especially pertinent today as the normal pace of living is accelerating more each year.

What Spiritual Direction Is Not

Spiritual direction is not kooky nor impractical. My heart has been grieved by those saying spiritual direction is non-Biblical. Sure, there are some directors who add extra-Biblical elements to their spiritual direction sessions. As with any tool, it depends on who wields it. But spiritual direction does not necessarily include any extra-Biblical elements. To those Christians who are against engaging in silence and meditation, I suggest looking at these Bible references which either encourage or command both of them. Silence and meditation are practical tools for one’s faith.

Psalm 4:4

Psalm 63:3

Psalm 64:1

Psalm 77:6, 12

Psalm 104:34

Psalm 119:15, 27, 48, 78, 97, 99, 148

Psalm 143:5

Psalm 145:5

Ecclesiastes 3:7

Habakkuk 2:20

Zephaniah 1:7

Zechariah 2:13