DISCERNMENT:  MOVING BEYOND YOUR OUTER-DIRECTED SELF INTO YOUR INNER-DIRECTED SELF TO FIND MORE OF WHO YOU ARE

 

The spiritual life is a journey of faith and transformation that is lived and deepened through relationships, community, and accountability in our lives.

Within the spiritual life, discernment is listening to the still small voice beneath the rush of the day, a prayerful and deliberate practice of reading the subtle signs in daily life.

Discernment is a lifelong commitment to remember God, know who you are, and pay close attention to what the Spirit is saying (Nouwen, 2013). 

Yet the goals in your life often take you in a different direction.

We have been taught, and taught well, to become achievers.  Using knowledge and information, we have all become masters in problem solving.  In fact, we need to, to excel and thrive.

Acquiring facts and information, we analyze, evaluate, and objectify data that engages our minds to determine best possible outcomes.

Just as everyone else, you feel pride and achievement in your accomplishments which are generally rewarded, whether in your business, work life, or other significant contexts.

The energy and ingenuity you put forth to be successful and recognized for your good work is nothing short of what it should be. 

In your heart, you are using the gifts and skills that God gave you that allow God’s world to become a better, more highly functioning place.

All of this is good . . . and yet there is more.

While engaging your intellect there is also another dimension of who you are that is often overlooked or bypassed.

That is the dimension of your inner-directed life.

This is the gift of your Spirit life, your life where God dwells within you and guides your heart to be uniquely who you are. 

Your inner-directed self is where the Spirit lives within you, guiding and connecting you to the heart of who you are, raising your awareness toward that which is true and meaningful for you.

An understanding of the meaningful role of Spirit in our lives is often overlooked in our culture.

As your mind space moves so rapidly to achieve, you often exclude space and time in your daily life for discernment – just like everyone else.

Discernment is a rich and revealing process.

Discernment is a process of decision-making where we sift through and sort out where God fits into our choices and plans that we make in our lives.

It is the process of intentionally becoming aware of how God is present, active, and calling us as individuals and communities to respond with ever greater awareness and faithfulness.

To discern is to discriminate between those decisions and choices that align with God’s presence in your life or those that run counter to it.

When you choose to be in alignment with God’s presence, you feel a deep satisfaction that transcends fleeting happiness.

Do you feel you are settling for fleeting happiness, or do you seek a deeper, more satisfying happiness which remains true to who you are?

Discernment helps us become more authentically who we are as individuals, couples, parents, friends, and faith-filled communities.

If you are interested in learning more about the gift of discernment and how to bring it more fully into your life, join me for this 6-week program on Discernment.  Together we will walk the path of what currently is. Along the way you will begin to discover and explore ways that your spiritual life may encompass greater awareness of discernment. You will become more fully true to who you are.     

The next class will begin in the Fall of 2021.

Click here to get on the waiting list.