Spiritual Hiccups - Changing Ourselves

I read Richard Rohr's Daily meditation in conjunction with today's lectionary passages.  Rohr spoke of how we need mentors to help us stay on track because religious people often think their job is to help other people change.  We forget that faith is about God transforming us, a process that is never quite finished.  And when we focus on getting others to be like us or agree with us, we often forget about the work of transformation in our own lives.

I thought about Rohr's comments in light of the reading from Micah.  Micah, like many other prophets, blasts the rulers of Israel.  In a sense, these prophets seek to mentor the rulers.  King in ancient Israel is a religious position.  Kings were messiahs, God's anointed ones.  Their rule was to be guided by God, but privilege, power, and rich friends made it easy to go astray, and the prophets sought to call them back.  Of course kings often found false prophets who would tell them what they wanted to hear.

All this makes me wonder about who serves as my or your mentor, who reminds us of our own need to change.  Who is our prophet, counselor, mentor, or spiritual director?  Who reminds us to let the Spirit continue her transforming work in our lives?  This is especially problematic for pastors, at least for me.  I often think that if only I could get those people to be more.... things would be better.  But who says to me, "First remove the log from your own eye..."

The tradition in which I grew up didn't have spiritual directors, and it didn't really encourage mentoring relationships.  Faith was mostly about agreeing with what my tradition said was true.  As an avid reader, I was fortunate to find mentors on the printed page, but books are easier to ignore than someone who has a relationship with you. 

Who draws you back when you are going astray?

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