‘If you want to find rest here below, say,
‘Who am I?
and do not judge anyone.’
Abba Joseph
Apophthegmata Patrum
Welcome to Jeffrey Kendall's Website
I hope you found yourself here seeking spiritual direction.
In our society, the hunger and thirst for the spiritual cries out to heaven.
I am answering that call.
Please peruse the various pages herein
to get an understanding of
whom I am
and my approach to spiritual direction.
If you are interested in getting started,
please read the questions and answers page
and go to "How do we start?" at the very bottom.
About the Photo
I took this photo on Hilton Head Island. I did not notice the man walking on the left. Neither did I see the two other seagulls over the ocean. I focused on catching the seagull against the sun. I got lucky. Or I got providenced. This is my own word for God working when I do not realize it.
I have noticed that almost every site for spiritual directors has some kind of serene image. And I have followed suit, although the person walking on the left and the three seagulls gives the scene additional, layered meanings. I'd love to know how you interpret it.
For me, a more appropriate image of my living the spiritual life might be of someone walking in a storm, for that has been my predominate spiritual experience. Spiritual direction is for people in all stages of the spiritual life, but because of my experience, I might be best suited for someone in the midst of confusion, someone in darkness, someone suffering, for I have been through it and come out alive.
This photo has never been photoshopped.
About the Quote
I love the wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, men and women who retreated to the desert of Egypt in the 2nd and 3rd centuries to live the spiritual life, discovering it while a seminarian and returning to it throughout my life.
Not thinking about the quote from Abba Joseph directly but simply reflecting upon the mystery of God and Man, I developed the theology that the "I am" of each person is made sensible in the I AM of the I AM, God himself. "Who am I?" is answered by "I AM WHO AM".
Being somewhat creative, at times, I sat down and designed an image that expressed this theology, a design in which the question and the answer are one and the same.
If you are interested in this on a tee-shirt, click here