I am re-reading a book to prepare for some presentations I have to make. The book by Timothy M. Gallagher is about discernment. It is entitled, The Discernment of Spirits. I first read the book some time ago in preparation for writing an article comparing Ignatian (as in Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits) spiritual direction and my own Quaker tradition of spiritual direction. That was a fun article to write because, once again, Quakers don’t always use traditional language---spiritual direction, for example. But Quakers usually have some form for the same experience.
Exercises like this has made it easy for me to be ecumenical. Long ago I appreciated the fact that denominations may be useful, but they certainly are not the last word. While it is easy for me to identify as a Quaker, I am first a Christian---or maybe even better, a spiritual person who happens to be Christian. That enables me to be open to others and non-judgmental of other experiences and articulations of that experience.
And so it is that I am again reading about discernment. That is not a word I grew up hearing among Quakers. Essentially, discernment is figuring out what God desires for you when you are not sure. For example, I assume God has desires for me. The question is how do I come to know what those desires are so that I can follow those desires. That is my desire: to do what God desires me to do. And to be what God desires me to be. Usually, this requires a time of discerning.
There is a long and cherished Christian tradition behind the process of discernment. Not surprisingly, discernment often has meant some time in prayer and meditation. In our own contemporary times, additional processing aspects have been used. However, that is not what I want to pursue in this inspirational piece. Instead, I was struck again in reading today what some assumptions are within the discernment endeavor.
In the early Christian centuries, one assumption was there were three sources of “leading,” the term Quakers use for outside sources of desire for our soul. The three were “spirits,” to use the old-fashioned language. The three were God, the devil and ourselves. Not surprisingly, Christians (and other spiritual folks) want to know what God desires are in order to follow those. Certainly the devil is an old idea. Doubtlessly, many contemporary people still believe in some sort of a devil. Others probably psychologize the devil. That means they don’t think there is a “real devil,” but there are diabolical influences out there in the world.
And of course, we are often the real hindrance to discerning what God’s desire is for our lives. It is easy to let fame, greed, egotistical desires, etc. get in the way of knowing what God wants for us and from us. Classically speaking, discernment is indeed a “discernment of the spirits.” We may have an inkling about how to proceed in life. But is the inkling from God, from the devil or from ourselves? That is the key.
This is where I can return to Gallagher’s work for help. As he works with the Ignatian tradition, he makes note of the classical distinction between experiences of consolation and desolation. Again, I did not learn this kind of language as a kid. But it is easy enough to comprehend. Consolations are those times of what I might call “spiritual goodies.” We feel good about experiences. God may be very present and helpful to us. Unfortunately, the devil may use consolations as a way to trick us. And so it goes.
The times of desolation are the times when the “goodies” are gone. Desolation are trying times. It is often the kind of desert experience identified by the early faith communities. Desolation is a time when it feels like God has deserted us; we deal with absence, rather than presence. Desolation is a time when we are tempted. We are tempted to ditch the whole faith enterprise. We are tempted to give up or give in to things which are not spiritually good for us. This is why---in so many words---Gallagher counsels us in times of desolation to make no changes.
Desolation is a fruitful time for the devil and our own egotistical selves to tempt us to no good end. Make no change during this period, he advises. Desolation makes us sitting ducks for bad moods and bad moves! Gallagher then pens a line that I found revealing. He says, “Spiritual desolation…is the time of the lie, and its ‘wisdom’ is never to be followed.” (79) This line is a wake-up call for me and for all of us. In effect, the line warns, “watch out!”
The time of the lie: this is the time to watch out and not let our vulnerable be wounded. It is the time not to make rash decisions or big changes. It is not the time to conclude God does not exist or does not care. It is not the time to chase stupid ideas or ideologies. The time of the lie is not the time to gamble. Surely, it is the time to be conservative---conserve what we know, have and trust.
I learned a long time ago that God’s absence is not the same thing as God’s non-existence. Discernment helps us learn to hang in there during desolation and in faith hope that God steps back into the picture in due time.
Exercises like this has made it easy for me to be ecumenical. Long ago I appreciated the fact that denominations may be useful, but they certainly are not the last word. While it is easy for me to identify as a Quaker, I am first a Christian---or maybe even better, a spiritual person who happens to be Christian. That enables me to be open to others and non-judgmental of other experiences and articulations of that experience.
And so it is that I am again reading about discernment. That is not a word I grew up hearing among Quakers. Essentially, discernment is figuring out what God desires for you when you are not sure. For example, I assume God has desires for me. The question is how do I come to know what those desires are so that I can follow those desires. That is my desire: to do what God desires me to do. And to be what God desires me to be. Usually, this requires a time of discerning.
There is a long and cherished Christian tradition behind the process of discernment. Not surprisingly, discernment often has meant some time in prayer and meditation. In our own contemporary times, additional processing aspects have been used. However, that is not what I want to pursue in this inspirational piece. Instead, I was struck again in reading today what some assumptions are within the discernment endeavor.
In the early Christian centuries, one assumption was there were three sources of “leading,” the term Quakers use for outside sources of desire for our soul. The three were “spirits,” to use the old-fashioned language. The three were God, the devil and ourselves. Not surprisingly, Christians (and other spiritual folks) want to know what God desires are in order to follow those. Certainly the devil is an old idea. Doubtlessly, many contemporary people still believe in some sort of a devil. Others probably psychologize the devil. That means they don’t think there is a “real devil,” but there are diabolical influences out there in the world.
And of course, we are often the real hindrance to discerning what God’s desire is for our lives. It is easy to let fame, greed, egotistical desires, etc. get in the way of knowing what God wants for us and from us. Classically speaking, discernment is indeed a “discernment of the spirits.” We may have an inkling about how to proceed in life. But is the inkling from God, from the devil or from ourselves? That is the key.
This is where I can return to Gallagher’s work for help. As he works with the Ignatian tradition, he makes note of the classical distinction between experiences of consolation and desolation. Again, I did not learn this kind of language as a kid. But it is easy enough to comprehend. Consolations are those times of what I might call “spiritual goodies.” We feel good about experiences. God may be very present and helpful to us. Unfortunately, the devil may use consolations as a way to trick us. And so it goes.
The times of desolation are the times when the “goodies” are gone. Desolation are trying times. It is often the kind of desert experience identified by the early faith communities. Desolation is a time when it feels like God has deserted us; we deal with absence, rather than presence. Desolation is a time when we are tempted. We are tempted to ditch the whole faith enterprise. We are tempted to give up or give in to things which are not spiritually good for us. This is why---in so many words---Gallagher counsels us in times of desolation to make no changes.
Desolation is a fruitful time for the devil and our own egotistical selves to tempt us to no good end. Make no change during this period, he advises. Desolation makes us sitting ducks for bad moods and bad moves! Gallagher then pens a line that I found revealing. He says, “Spiritual desolation…is the time of the lie, and its ‘wisdom’ is never to be followed.” (79) This line is a wake-up call for me and for all of us. In effect, the line warns, “watch out!”
The time of the lie: this is the time to watch out and not let our vulnerable be wounded. It is the time not to make rash decisions or big changes. It is not the time to conclude God does not exist or does not care. It is not the time to chase stupid ideas or ideologies. The time of the lie is not the time to gamble. Surely, it is the time to be conservative---conserve what we know, have and trust.
I learned a long time ago that God’s absence is not the same thing as God’s non-existence. Discernment helps us learn to hang in there during desolation and in faith hope that God steps back into the picture in due time.
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