Do you have a grandparent you were particularly drawn to but has since passed? Or perhaps a great-grandparent whom you never met but you feel a connection when you hear stories about their life? Maybe you feel their presence at times in nature or find yourself wondering during life’s hardships  - is this resilience I’m drawing upon just mine or could it live in my bones from those who came before me?

In this episode, Trained Spiritual Director and Supervisor Lee Jarrell joins me as we explore some of these questions. Per Lee’s recommendation, Podcast Host Emily Turner Watson recently read The Love of Thousands: How Angels, Saints, and Ancestors Walk with Us toward Holiness a book by spiritual director, writer and teacher Chrstine Valters Painter. She loved the book and found it so connective that she decided to ask Lee if he would appear on the podcast so the two could dialogue about the book. And that’s exactly what they did! The two  decided to dedicate their conversation to two of their wise and well ancestors. Lee’s grandfather Jesse whom he knew as a boy and would visit in Central Texas and Emily'sgreat-great grandmother Mary whom she never met but recently learned more of her story as an Irish immigrant at the Irish Immigration Museum in Dublin last Summer.  

Could these ancestors be watching over us with compassion and offering us spiritual guidance and support even though as Valters puts it they have crossed more fully into the Light of God’s presence.Lee has worked with his spiritual director and therapist as well to understand more of how his story and his ancestor’s stories are intertwined, how one can bring healing to the other and how these relationships impact our journey toward wholeness. This conversation was a lot of fun. Whether you are a spiritual director looking for language around the topic of ancestors as you hold space for directees curious about this part of their stories or perhaps you are feeling a pull into the “more” of those who have gone before, we hope this conversation provides you with a few openings and holy threads pointing you to more love of yourself, your family and the world around you.