"Best of" Conversations: Episode 21 - What is a Soul Friendship?

Show Notes

Today we are talking about friendship. Not just any kind of friendship, but spiritual, or soul friendship. What is a soul friend (in Gaelic known as Anam Cara)? And how does it tie in to having a spiritual director? Listen in on this conversation with Kaylene and Tara Owens, founder of Anam Cara Ministry, and learn!

Resources Mentioned in the Podcast

Today’s Guest - Tara Owens

Tara was born in Montreal to British parents who moved to Canada for a better life for their growing family. Canadian by birth and British by blood, she has lived all over the US, and now lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Tara discerned the call to spiritual direction while completing a Master of Theological Studies in Spiritual Formation at Tyndale Seminary in Toronto. She was captured by the incredible privilege it is to companion someone as they discern the voice of the Loving Creator in their lives.

Tara founded Anam Cara Ministries in 2007 as a place of where true soul friendship can be found. ‘Anam Cara’ is an ancient Celtic word meaning ‘soul friend,’ one of the essential qualities of a spiritual director.

Suggestions on where to find a Spiritual Director:

• Your local church
• A local seminary
• Retreat Centers
• Anam Cara Ministry
• Potter’s Inn

Moment to Breathe - A Friendship Blessing by John O’Donohue - from his book Anam Cara: A Book Of Celtic Wisdom

"May you be blessed with good friends.May you learn to be a good friend to yourself.May you be able to journey to that place in your soul wherethere is great love, warmth, feeling, and forgiveness.May this change you.May it transfigure that which is negative, distant, or cold in you.May you be brought in to the real passion, kinship, and affinity of belonging.May you treasure your friends.May you be good to them and may you be there for them;may they bring you all the blessing, challenges, truth,and light that you need for your journey.May you never be isolated.May you always be in the gentle nest of belonging with your anam ċara."

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