“The universe is made by stories – not atoms”
- Muriel Rukeyser
One of my earliest memories contains praying. My mother taught me how to pray. It was not so much the words as the awareness of an invisible presence of someone who wished me well. Regardless of where life has taken me, through ups and downs, sorrows and joys, I still have a connection to that notion that our life is a mysterious thing. In the middle of everything, the everyday moments and duties, the stories of our lives, can tell us of that presence of someone or something larger than everything we can imagine. This is what I believe is God. Maybe you would call it the spiritual dimension of life or something else. During our time on earth there come certain times or occasions when we feel some unease or longing of some sort. This could be an invitation from God to us, that the time has come when spending moments together with God in prayer could help us in different ways. Maybe give us perspective on what is most important to us in the end and how I want to live the life I have been given. See God´s traces in my life clearer.
“Tourists have crowded into the half-dark of the enormous Romanesque church.
Vault opening behind vault and no perspective
A few candle flames flickered.
An angel whose face I couldn´t see embraced me and
his whisper went all through my body:
“Don´t be ashamed to be a human being, be proud!
Inside you one vault after another opens endlessly.
You´ll never be complete, and that´s as it should be.”
Tears blinded me as we were herded out in the fiercely sunlit piazza,
together with Mr. and Mrs. Jones, Herr Tanaka and Signora Sabatini;
within each of them vault after vault opened endlessly”
In my life today, I will soon retire from my work as a Lutheran minister in the Church of Sweden where I have been working for the last 25 years. Sweden is also the country where I live, in a city nearby Stockholm. Since I have been studying at Loyola University, mainly in the tradition of St Ignatius, I will still be offering spiritual direction despite of my retirement. In the town where I live, I am leading retreats in different ways and I also meet people regularly that come for spiritual direction. Hence, I’m happy to also being able to offer spiritual guidance through this site.
As a spiritual director I have great respect for the story which is yours to tell. If you want to, I will join you on the road you travel, by listening to what is going on in your life. Maybe suggest something, like a Bible story or a poem, as a help in your prayer/relation to God.
My favourite things
Going on pilgrimage - shorter or longer ones. Some years ago, I went the last distance to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, but I also enjoy shorter walks - being a part of the creation.
Music – I enjoy both listening to nearly every kind of music and play some instruments.
Poetry - words make the room larger, for example Emily Dickinson
Reading – right now I am reading a biography on Carl Michael Bellman, a famous Swedish poet and composer