Responding to God’s call to holiness takes discipline and thoughtful focus. On the journey of the spiritual life, there are many roads a person can follow. Some of these are dead ends. Others go in circles, so that after much effort a persons ends up where he or she started. But there is a road – perhaps several roads – on which progress is possible.
Universal Call to Holiness
Discovering which road to travel is one of the basic tasks of the spiritual life. The spiritual journey is not merely a matter of understanding God better or of feeling deeply about God. It involves making choices among various options open to us. Some of these options will hinder us on the journey. Others will hasten us on the journey because they lead to greater freedom. When we choose to remove or overcome the obstacles that block the ability to love, when we choose the welfare and happiness of another over our own, we are freeing ourselves to love. In many ways, discernment – choosing the right road or roads – is like choosing a pair of hiking boots. One pair is too tight. Another does not look right. A third pair may fit well but be totally inadequate for a long walk. Finally, we find a pair that is comfortable and will hold up for a long hike.
Discernment is not an exotic process; it is relatively simple. From the Christian tradition, there are five helps we can use in the process of discerning what to choose.
The first of these is reflection about similar situations to see what choices one has made in the past. This reflection is necessary in order to identify the patterns one’s decisions usually follow.
Each person’s life follows certain patterns. Life is not just a series of unconnected events. It is held together by a string of common threads. Some of these are helpful and healthy; others are destructive. Some of these patterns have worked well, some have not. Discernment is the process of sifting through one’s experiences to find the common threads that run through past and present. Discernment leads to an understanding of our motives, which usually are rather obscure. When used regularly, it can help us discover our fundamental motivation.
The process of discernment is not necessarily easy. It means facing many things about ourselves and about our childhood. It is a process that can lead to true freedom, making life’s journey more successful.