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April 12 - April 17, 2021
Discernment would be simple if we could identify the five, or twelve, or twenty-five fail-proof steps to making good choices. But choices are not the result of mere rational exercise; choices come out of who we are as well as out of what we think. That is why discernment is not a system but a process, and it’s a process we must learn, and apply, and then learn some more.
Ignatian discernment, then, isn’t so much about what to do but about who to be. It’s about becoming a person in tune with the movements that lead toward God. The doing will flow from the being.
Jesuit Father William Huete puts it this way: The false spirit equals the devil plus the trauma of tragic circumstances such as cancer or hurricanes, plus destructive experiences and behaviors, plus psychological baggage, plus emotional weaknesses, and so on. The false spirit is anything that draws me away from God and from God’s loving plan for the world.
when referring to the true spirit, Ignatius was speaking not only of the Holy Spirit but also of anything else that would draw me closer to God. The true spirit equals the Holy Spirit plus good in the world, plus happy life circumstances such as good health or sunny weather, plus life-affirming experiences
The false spirit: The “inner pull” away from God’s plan and away from faith, hope, and love. The false spirit is also referred to as “the evil spirit” or “the enemy of our human nature.” The true spirit: The “inner pull” toward God’s plan and toward faith, hope, and love. It is also referred to as “the good spirit.”
If I set out to have no negative moods, thoughts, or feelings, I’m setting myself up for failure. These experiences are simply part of what it means to be human. But I can pray about and work on my perceptions of and attitudes toward those negative moods, thoughts, and feelings. Often, I cannot control the way I feel about something. For example, if you say something hurtful to me, I’m going to feel hurt. Denying it will simply make it worse.
This side of heaven, I must deal with inner negativity. But I do have some choice in my attitude toward that negativity.
For now, we can say that a sure sign of the presence of the true spirit are the holy desires that inflame my heart to do good in the world. In Genesis 1, the reader can sense God’s own divine desire to create. One can feel the passion of God the Father who says, “Let there be light” and “Let us make humankind in our image.” When I am in tune with God’s ever-creative love, I, too, have that passion to create, that desire to bring forth new life. It is one of the holiest aspects of being human.
Recently I said to my mentor, “I need to tell you about something, not because I think it is a problem but for the sake of transparency.” I then told him of feelings I was having that were embarrassing to me—that I would rather not have told anyone. He listened well, and we then had a great conversation about it. Looking back on that moment, I still don’t believe the feelings I was having would have become a problem, but I have a strong sense that speaking it aloud to someone provided a fortification against the “agitations and temptations” of the false spirit.
Prayer Exercise A: The True Spirit in My Life 1. Begin your prayer time by placing yourself in an alert but comfortable position. Spend a good while quieting yourself and asking the Spirit of God to be present to you and to fill you with life. Soak in the Spirit as you would soak in a warm bath. 2. If you feel called to do so, begin to reflect on a time when you were clearly in a period of consolation—that is, a time of deep inner peace, during which you experienced great desires of faith, hope, and love. It might be a time of exterior sadness or tragedy but of interior peace and tranquility.
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His alcoholism has been a reality for a long time, but his fear of it kept him from naming it so. Only after naming it aloud can he begin to recover his life.
There is a relationship with sin avoidance here too. Avoidance can cause us to think more about the sin
She should have strong self-esteem, such that she doesn’t need to be my mentor.
When I’m with my companions, I see more clearly who I am, and I actually like who I am. To borrow a phrase from the movie As Good as It Gets, companions make me want to be a better man.
Because hope, in particular, suffers during desolation, Ignatius encourages the director to give the desolate person “courage and strength (Annotation 7).” As Ignatian scholar Timothy Gallagher so beautifully points out, Ignatius encourages the desolate person to trust that Christ “has left him in trial in his natural powers, so that he may resist . . . since he can resist with the divine help, which always remains with him, though he does not clearly feel it.” He can resist, insists Ignatius. “Let the one who is in desolation think that he can do much.”
The problem is that if the desolation IS for cause this can lead to pride not dependence
• Fourth and finally, I remind myself that God is all-loving and all-powerful and will not send me any challenges I can’t handle. If that is true, then I can live through this challenge, and I’ll even trust that God will make good use of it, which brings us to the last response I should make to my experience of desolation.
This is problematic though. We don't survive it all
Death exists
Remember that, while God never brings desolation, God does allow it and would never do so unless we could grow from the experience.
Sailing, I discovered, is about detecting the source of the wind, then making adjustments to harness that wind to move the boat forward. This is a perfect analogy for using discernment of spirits to progress in the spiritual life. We pay attention to learn the source of this particular movement, then we make spiritual adjustments to harness this movement (whether it be consolation or desolation) in order to move forward in the spiritual life. It is only when there is no wind at all that we cannot move forward.
Figure 3: Eight Ways to Deal with Desolation 1. Name it. 2. Make no unnecessary changes. 3. Rely on your support network. 4. Consider logistical or moral causes. 5. Be aware of the false angel of light. 6. Be firm with the false spirit. 7. Be gentle with yourself. 8. Have faith that God is at work in your desolation.
When one enjoys consolation, let him consider how he will conduct himself during the time of ensuing desolation, and store up a supply of strength as defense against that day. —SE, Rules for Discernment of Spirits, First Week, #10
If consolation is the ideal time to work on desolations, then why are we so hesitant to do so? Often we hesitate to look at the painful parts of life because we’re using the defense mechanism of avoidance. The psyche is programmed to fear psychological pain.
The desolation could have been caused by sin, but it’s also very possible that I did not actually sin at any point along the way. It might even be the case that I didn’t make any mistakes during the desolation. My objective in this investigation, then, is not to accuse myself of moral failings or of incompetence but rather to learn about the particular ways desolation typically enters my life so that I can be better prepared for the next time it begins to creep back in.
The more I’m aware of my own weaknesses, the more I’ll be able to recognize when the false spirit is going after them.
I should identify the following: • Places: Whenever I go to that office [or that home], I find myself getting petty, jealous, or fearful. • People: I don’t like who I am when I’m around this person. • Topics: Whenever politics are brought up, I go ballistic. • Times: I get lonely in the late nights when I can’t sleep. I’m cranky in the morning before I’ve had my coffee. • Personal traits: I am quick tempered [or too sensitive, or unemotional, or passive, or a worrywart].
By identifying my “buttons,” I will more readily see danger ahead of time and prepare for it.
Psychology informs us that when humans feel hurt or threatened, it is in their biology to protect themselves from the perceived threat. Often, without my even being aware of it, my unconscious defense mechanisms kick in, and I find myself reacting in ways that are unhealthy or unholy. Reflecting on inner experiences in light of the most common defense mechanisms may help me identify where I am most vulnerable.
Am I hungry? angry? lonely? or tired? It’s important to remember that often, without my knowing it, my unconscious is reacting to some threat, hurt, or need. The more I bring these problems into the level of consciousness in my prayer, the less likely will desolation use them to get the best of me.
In making a good discernment, a person typically will • get quiet • gather data • dream dreams • ponder the dreams.
The modern world, for all its marvels, is simply too noisy for our own good. We cannot think straight with the cacophony of competing values presented by advertisements, the media, politicians, and the people around us. In order to hear the
sound of God’s voice, we must turn down the sound of the world. We must come to a place of stillness within by separating ourselves from the noise outside. Even for an experienced discerner, the movements of the spirits are simply too subtle to detect without quieting down for a little while each day.
Many spiritual writers of Ignatius’s day spoke of desires as obstacles to God’s will. A person was supposed to suppress his desires—to eliminate them whenever possible. But Ignatius held the radical notion that God dwells within our desires. Not only are desires not evil, but they are also one of God’s primary instruments of communicating to us. God inflames the heart with holy desires and with attractions toward a life of greater divine praise and service. Unlike many of his religious contemporaries of the sixteenth century, Ignatius did not seek to quash desires but to tap into the deepest
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