spiritual discernment and direction
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Houston Graduate School of Theology CS 501 Introduction to Christian Spirituality. Spiritual discernment and Direction. Spiritual Discernment. What is discernment?. Sources Chan, Simon. Spiritual Theology , chapter 11 - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT
AND DIRECTION
Houston Graduate School of TheologyCS 501 Introduction to Christian Spirituality
Spiritual Discernment
What is discernment? Sources
Chan, Simon. Spiritual Theology, chapter 11Smith, Gordon T. The Voice of Jesus:
Discernment, Prayer, and the Witness of the Spirit. Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity Press.
Discernment DefinedInsight – the capacity to see something clearlyDiscretion – the capacity to distinguish between
good and evil and good and betterJudgement – assessment informed by knowledge
and understanding
The two paths Through the regular practice of
discernment, a person grows in wisdom, which becomes increasingly evident in the quality of one’s choices
The ability to discern the voice of Jesus is a critical spiritual skill, basic to our capacity to make vocational and moral choices – read John 10:1-5
The exercise of discernment External – concerning the veracity of
events, situations, and people; God’s work in the world and one’s participation in it; and extraordinary phenomena
Internal – determining the source of inner impulses has always been difficult and may be the reason why most of the work on discernment has concentrated on this area
Dynamic tensions
Divine initiative
and human response
Context of life and the particularity
of Jesus’ voice
The voice of Jesus in prayer and in the world
The individual and the
community
Divine initiative/human response God is the initiator Christian spirituality is a spirituality of
response In spiritual discernment, the believer
learns how to respond to God’s initiative Discernment rests in the tension
between the priority of God and the call for genuine human action and responsibility
Context of life/voice of Jesus God speaks into the particulars We learn to be attentive to the details of our
lives We have a greater capacity to listen to
Jesus if we are frank with ourselves about who we are, where we have come from, what we have experienced, and what we hope for.
As a result, we develop the ability to attend to the inner witness of the Spirit.
Jesus’ voice in prayer and in the world A discerning person learns to be alert and
attentive to the voice of Jesus in every context of life, even through unexpected channels of communication
Effective discernment requires an openness to surprises, to the strange and wonderful ways in which God may choose to speak
We will not recognize Jesus’ voice unless we listen to the Spirit while in prayer
The individual and the community The community is both a threat and an
indispensable aid to discernment To foster spiritual maturity, the community
enables individual Christians to hear the voice of Jesus and encounter the living bread and water for themselves
Though a believer learns discernment for oneself, it is not learned by oneself
Critical affirmations
The Voices of the CommunityThe Gift of DiscernmentThe Role of Leadership
The role of leadership The leader finds a responsible place
within the process, as part of the group Leadership is one of the gifts given to
the community The community takes seriously the
perspective, skills, and gifts of the leader The leader listens to the community and
to the voice of the Spirit through the community
The voices of the community Each member plays a significant role Communal discernment seeks to affirm
the appropriate voice and contribution of each person, corresponding to each person’s giftedness and role within the community
Gift of discernment Individual contributions that enable the
group to discern well. Varieties of expressions
Seeing beyond the immediate (vision)Understanding the issues and facts (critical
analysis but beyond rational analysis)Identifying the emotional dimensionSharing of wisdom and insight (sage)
Conditions for Communal Discernment
Common Purpose
Resolve to
Decide Together
Clearly Framed Matter for
Discernment
Mutual Regard
and Accepta
nce
Good Information and Good Research
The meeting to discern
Discussion toward ResolutionModerator asks for comments and observations that
have arisen out of prayer A “sense” may emerge that there is more agreement
among the group than originally thought possible
Prayer and Silent ReflectionMeeting for Clearness Extended time of listening prayer
Open DiscussionThreshing Meeting Issues, concerns, observations, and perspectives are
freely expressed
Spiritual Direction
Spiritual Direction Freeing and empowering others to know
with greater confidence what God is saying to them
Empowering others to hear more clearly the voice of Jesus
Distinct from both counseling and mentoring
Distinctions Counseling
The agenda is set by the emotional needs of the one being counseled
Spiritual directors and mentors know that when it comes to emotional pathologies, they are well advised to refer others to trained counselors
MentoringThe agenda is set by the one who mentorsOne has a set of skills and trains the other in
those skills
Distinctions Spiritual direction
The agenda is not so much emotional needs nor is it a training program
The witness of the Spirit determines the course of the conversation
Fundamental posture is in being with the other in a manner that enhances the capacity of the other to know how God is speaking
Peterson’s assumptions God is present and at work in each
person’s life A wealth of spiritual wisdom exists on
which we can draw as we seek to respond to the work of God
Every person is different, therefore, directors should not work with a predetermined outcome
The Bottom Line Spiritual direction is not a ministry of
giving counsel about decisions Rather, in spiritual direction, one of the
most effective ways in which we can serve the other is by probing to see how the other can choose well, in intentional response to God