Who am I? Almost anything one says after “I am…” seems too limiting. If I say I am an law professor, a spiritual director, a pray-er, an accordion player, a wife, a mother, I describe some significant things that are part of who I am. But only part.
What do I love? Poetry, the feel of the sun on my face, a long hike after the rain, listening to my daughter sing, fireplaces in winter (to name a few).
What do I want? To fall each day ever more deeply in love with God and to live each moment out of the truth of my relationship with God. To help others deepen their relationship with God.
The last resulted in our relocation from NY to Minneapolis this past summer. I was teaching law at St. John’s University School of Law and doing spiritual direction and presenting retreats and other programs at St. Ignatius Retreat House, where I was a staff associate, and in my parish. The University of St. Thomas School of Law offered me the opportunity to move to the Twin Cities and spend part of my time being a “regular” law professor and part giving retreats and other programs of spiritual formation for the law school and affiliate communities. So here I am.
You can find all the “official” academic biographical stuff here.
My actual legal name is Susan Stabile. Somewhere along the way I decided I wanted a middle name and, since my parents didn’t give me one at birth, I started using my confirmation name - Joan - as a middle name - or simply the initial “J.” Hence my signature line appears as “susanj”, which was what one of my friends and former colleague at the law firm I used to work at always called me.
