Let me try to gather together some ideas from the messages so far.
I reminded myself that it is not my job to make things happen; it is my job to actively make myself available so that God can make things happen in and through me. I can pray and ask questions and listen and visit people and worship in order to make myself available.
We all agree that it is important to have a spiritual father. The first candidate that comes to mind is our parish priest, but people mentioned priests or monks in general as possibilities. Finding a spiritual father is a process of active discernment in an overall context of obedience first to God, then to some degree and in some way to the spiritual father. We strive to discern and avoid certain bad patterns in our relationship with a spiritual father but affirm that even bad patterns can, in God\'s hands, yield some real good.
One place to read about the Orthodox tradition of spiritual fathers is in the writings of or about St. Silouan.
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