Join us on Sunday October 24th at 2:30 pm to hear Diane Cameron speak on the spirituality of Twelve-step recovery and the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Cost: $20

Would you like to understand more about the work of St. Ignatius of Loyola in spiritual direction, or the practices of Alcoholics Anonymous? Did you know that these things connect and that Carl Jung has something to do with it? Join speaker, advocate, spiritual director and creative coach Diane Cameron for a meditative talk about the intersection, influence, and creativity of all of the above. This talk is for personal enrichment and for support in listening to others in their spiritual journeys.

Read Diane’s introduction to the talk below:

A story that is part of AA lore goes like this: A newcomer to recovery says to his sponsor, “I’m doing so much better now that I am sober, but I still struggle with the spiritual part of the program.” The sponsor looks at the newcomer and pauses and then says, “There is no spiritual part of the program,” then pausing he adds, “It is a spiritual program.”

People who have done the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises (St Ignatius of Loyola, 1534) have marveled at how “modern” the Ignatian practices are. They say things like, “Ignatius was Jungian before Jung” or “This is not unlike a mindfulness practice.” And “This is a lot like Alcoholics Anonymous.” 

Could that be?

It turns out that there is an important intersection where AA practice meets the ideas of St. Ignatius, and it is there that the language and literature of the Twelve Step programs was born. What is the core idea central to “the 12 Step approach” and The Spiritual Exercises? Another great—Carl Jung—shows up to explain the “vital spiritual experience” shared by these two life changing practices.

Diane Cameron is the author of “Out of the Woods—a Guide to Long-term Recovery, ” and  “Looking for Signs” essays on spirituality and community. Diane is a spiritual director and writing coach with a long history of work in human services.