What is Discernment

WHAT is discernment? What is vocation? There is often both subtle support and jesting when discernment and vocation are mentioned into contemporary conversations between sporting news, political extremism, and celebrity scandal. This is a time where we are competing to play the role of Pilate, competing to find one solution, one answer which will alter our course, direct us on the road to salvation, the road to truth, loyalty, and service to God. Certainly there will be, that delight which creating questions and sharing these questions with unsuspecting friends and family members with the a dollop of giddiness and a dollop of hope before stepping into the beautiful yet still pool of despair where each unanswered question leads to suffering and pain, where each unasked question leads to rejection and ridicule. Such is the bondage of the imagination as it weighs this and that, imagines mathematical, emotional, grammatical, and typographical errors. There is only our belief in God to provide strength. Discernment and free will complement each other, affect each other. Discernment is not just thinking, not just reading a book, not just talking to a member of clergy, it is actions, it is movement, steps toward holiness, steps toward love universal, love unconditional. Discernment is a process of learning to be Christ-like, a process of wanting to be more Christ-like. The world is filled with philosophers and pundits of every kind presenting certain discourses on religion, on God, on economics; the world is filled with all types of diversions and wits. Discernment is a time to avoid much conversation and activity and to focus thoughts and hopes on God. Discernment is a time to deepen your faith, deepen your relationship with God. It is a time to allow yourself to relate to the ancient forerunners, both the saints and the sinners, and to learn from both of them. Remember goodness does not exist in a vacuum alone. Goodness is where ever you can uncover it. Discernment is a process of uncovering a personal truth, a personal desire to serve God obediently, lovingly, loyally. There might be difficulty, there might be uncertainty, there might be anxiety. Accept them all graciously, calmly. Avoid imposing deadlines. Discernment can be a time of beauty and grace and humility and mercy. Open your heart, open your soul, open your mind. Listen for God’s voice. Wait for God’s touch. Pray to God for guidance. The secular world will create distractions, things to worry about, things to corrupt your thoughts. Do yourself a favor, remember to put yourself into God’s hands, live on God’s Standard Time. Do not worry or obsess about your discernment. You may meditate on it. Allow your discernment to be a time of spiritual enlightenment and pleasure. Pray for prayer’s sake. Love for love’s sake. Believe in God. But each discernment is different, some are stately, some are playful. They all are often called journeys. And a journey discernment is; a journey of hope, of faith. Here is a time to examine private thoughts and desires, to make a private stand on morality which will lead to a public stand. Be like the ancient painters and poets ever prepared to capture and preserve the moment, the mood. Examine all of your loves, all of your dislikes, examine your Fridays and your Sundays. Examine your truth and your deceptions. But remember to always pray. And then pray some more. This is a time of ebb and flowing difficulty and labor. Do not despair. Remember that there will always be more questions than answers.

Discernment is a time of love; it is a time for communication and for a relationship with God to deepen, to flourish.