Discernment
“...discernment
may be the key spiritual practice.” Joan Borysenko
Discernment,
in the spiritual sense, is “perception in the absence of judgment
with a view to obtaining spiritual direction and understanding.”
(Merriam Webster) In other words, it is asking for guidance from
Spirit, and then being tuned-in enough to recognize the answer when
it comes. There is that tired old joke about the guy on his roof in a
flood waiting for God to save him. He fails to recognize God's hand
in the two boats and a helicopter sent to rescue him. Discernment
requires understanding that God has only the tools of this earth to
use for our rescue—but that's enough.
Sometimes
when we're in the trenches, praying for guidance, help comes in the
off-hand words of a friend or a stranger. Sometimes it's in a book we
read. Sometimes we just wake up in the morning and know the answer as
though Spirit had whispered in our ear while we slept. Often when we
ask for something, it doesn't come quickly, or perhaps in the way we
imagined, but gently over time, and we can only realize it in
retrospect. Discernment requires asking questions, and being alert
and awake for the answers.
Some
of the most penetrating and important questions for discernment are
simple ones. “What now, God?” “What do you require of me?”
“What comes next?” “What is the right thing to do in this
situation?” The key is waiting for the answers—living with the
tension of not-knowing until you do know. Hard to do in our “jump
the gun” culture where we all want to be captains of our fate.
Discernment
requires faith. Faith that the answer is there inside you all the
time, waiting for God-within to reveal it. In the meantime, keep
asking and keep listening.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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