Coaches, guides, and, gurus

In last week's Bhagavad Gita-In Your Life discussion, we explored the idea of having a spiritual mentor, teacher, guide, or guru. So many of us have begun to question the fabric of our reality, to look for something deeper, perhaps even to live with a spiritual consciousness, as a soul, as the Gita suggests. We discussed that having a teacher and guide is certainly not something out of the ordinary for us. Our lives are full of people of wisdom and knowledge who guide us in our academic, social, athletic, and just-plain-common-sense realms of reality. We couldn't do without them, for they have walked the path we are trying to walk, and they can show us the way to move forward, and to avoid the pitfalls and potholes that may be in the road ahead. So it's not a stretch to say we need some similar guidance in our spiritual life.
Of course there are many doubts and questions of trust and qualification, but if we are sincere and really seeking the kind of person/people who can give us real, lasting, personal, and intimate guidance to traverse the spiritual road, we will find them, but we must be patient, and we must be willing to serve, and we must be inquisitive as well. These are all facets of the teacher/student relationship Krishna is describing to Arjuna, and which they are showing to us through the dialogue and wisdom of the Gita.