"God created us to be lovers," writes Nick Wagner in his introduction to Spiritual Direction in Context. "When we love, we are in right relationship. We are acting for justice. The ministry of every spiritual director, in any context, is to serve as a guide into the depths of that love relationship."

Here, in this provocative collection of essays, respected leaders in the field of spiritual direction explore the myriad of contexts in which this relationship takes place and offers practical ways to respond to them.

As the popularity of spiritual direction grows, directors are facing situations that monks and nuns - for centuries the exclusive practitioners of this profession - never had to face.

The essays in this book, drawn from Presence, the journal of Spiritual Directors International, look deeply at spiritual direction in a number of contexts, including the workplace, with the aging, in hospitals, with women's groups, with youth, with the homeless, and with those in mourning.

Spiritual Direction in Context is the third in the SDI series.