Category: Discernment

Spiritual Discernment

There is much about our lives that are not helped by a list of moral rules or principles to live by—as useful as these may be. Having principles or morals to live by, which I learned from my parents, while important, did not help me to know that God called me to be a pastor and teacher in the church. The Holy Spirit did that.

None of us come to have our own sense of calling by our thoughts on what is ethical but by the Spirit leading us.

When we sought to discern next steps in a difficult situation or relationship and had to make a decision, broad principles about the good life did not help us. The Spirit helped us, as we prayed for guidance.

When we were faced with a vocational choice or a choice between multiple opportunities, any of which could be right for someone, we were seeking direction, not for something general, but for what was right for us. What would God have us do that fit our gifts and sense of self?

The Spirit helped us, gave us peace about a particular direction, a sense that one thing fitted us and some other did not. And we could not say it was because one thing was better than the other, only that we felt a peace about the steps we decided to take and a resistance to or reservations about alternate steps.

When someone came to us with a problem, and there was not a clear right or wrong answer, but rather a word was needed, we prayerfully listened and sought the Spirit’s guidance, and we were given the needed word. Or, we realized that the most important thing we could do was to simply actively listen in such a manner that we could ask helpful questions, trusting the Spirit to bring to the mind of the person who had come to us the thing that was needed, the word or action.

I often told a person who came to me for counseling that there were three of us in the room. The person who had come to me and myself and the Holy Spirit. With the Spirit’s help, the needed answer could come from either one of us as we opened ourselves to what God was doing and to God’s will.

God has called each of us, but we do not all have the same callings. We come to know what God calls each of us to do by being open to God’s will and being led by the Spirit.

What wonderful good news we receive when Jesus tells us that the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, will teach us everything. The Spirit will teach us what we need when we need it and will remind us of things that we knew and now in a particular situation need to remember.

We are not left alone with what we face today. We have the helper, the Holy Spirit, who is always with us. We have help for these times in which we live. We have help for discerning God’s call for the particular ways we are to do justice, love mercy, and live faithfully. Therefore, we venture forth in the Spirit and in prayer for the present call of God and the actions God would have us take.

Filed under: Decision, Discernment, guidance, Prayer

In the Valley of the Shadow of Death – Part 2

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil;
for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff,
they comfort me.

St. Paul writes of our present age as evil. And that is how we experience it. At times, it seems that this evil age has convulsions and things get worse. We experience greater breakdown of the social fabric, breakdown in leadership, greater divisions. And we feel overwhelmed.

We are often then tempted to give way too much attention to what overwhelms us, way too much attention to the power of evil. With that excessive attention, anxiety and fear deepen, and we are tempted to lose heart, to lose our trust in God and to lose our way.

Of course, it is appropriate to give attention to what is happening in our society and the world, but not in such a manner that we become intimidated and fearful and despairing, as if God were not present and lovingly active in our lives. As if the Good Shepherd were not present to lead us.

Frederick Douglass, speaking at a gathering of abolitionists, bemoaned the setbacks in the movement and the intransigence of the institution of slavery. There were sounds of despair in his voice as he went on and on in this vein. At one point, Sojourner Truth simply stood up and called out, “Frederick, did God die?”

Sometimes we need someone like Sojourner Truth to speak similar words to us when we start to despair. Or, we need to be that person for someone else. All of us, at times, need reminding that God is present, that God is watching over us and making a way for us. Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we will fear no evil for our Good Shepherd is present to guide us.

Whatever the times we live in, whatever we face in our world, God has a way for us to walk in, and God sends the Holy Spirit to lead us in ever changing situations. Therefore, Paul can say, “We are more than conquerors through God who strengthens us.”

What Paul said about his approach to the time in which he lived, helps us in the time in which we live. Paul said, “One thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

That is a word for us in our present evil age. We are to keep it simple. Do one thing: “Press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” We are to keep our eyes on the prize. Keep our focus on God’s call. Seek God’s will in order to do it.

Every one of us has a calling (or callings) from God. Every one of us has work to do that God gives us to do. Every one of us has gifts and abilities, spiritual gifts for living out our callings, for serving others and being light in the world.

We do not all have the same gifts and callings, but each of us has a calling and a work that fits our gifts. When we are living out that calling in our homes and neighborhoods and workplaces and among people we meet and people we are sent to and in public witness, we are affecting our world. We are being the light Jesus said we were.

While we all have our individual callings, there are some things we know are God’s will for all of us:

It is God’s will that we meet together, that we be in community. That we pray and encourage one another. That we seek God’s direction not only as individuals but as communities of faith. That we exercise our gifts and God-given abilities in ministry within our faith communities which prepares us for our work in the world. That we do so empowered by the Spirit. And that we cast our anxieties on the Lord, knowing that God is our Good Shepherd whose rod and staff comfort and guide us.

Filed under: Discernment, Evil, Faith, Fear, Spirit, WitnessTagged with: , , ,

In the Valley of the Shadow of Death

Elon Musk, head of the newly formed “Department of Government Efficiency,” as one of his first actions, for all intents and purposes, closed down USAID. The richest man in the world cut off the flow of humanitarian aid, food and medical services to the poorest in the world.

With this early action, he made it clear that DOGE was not about efficiency. He told us that USAID had to die because it was filled with “Marxists” (whatever that means to him).

This action was emblematic of the targeting of other life-giving organizations: National Institutes of Health, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Education, among many others. Identifying and providing solutions to their inefficiencies is one thing. Destroying their work is another.

“We walk through the valley of the shadow of death.”

Federal government funds for refugee resettlement have been cut off. Refugees, who had gone through the long process of gaining refugee status and were ready to come to our nation, were simply blocked. The doors were closed. Their lives were left in limbo.

One of the earliest actions of this administration was the scrubbing of DEI language and programs from across the government. Apparently, in the view of this administration, we are through working on a problem we have had throughout our history: the welcome of one another in our diversity, creating just environments and places of belonging for all. In the place of such work, we have seen the increased targeting of those who have been marginalized in our society. Our nation has become a more dangerous place for many people to live.

“We walk through the valley of the shadow of death.”

Our president has a “vision.” He sees possibilities for a strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea. He sees beyond the rubble, the destroyed homes, buildings, schools, hospitals. He barely sees the people of the land, their great loss and grief, the brutalization they have experienced, the death and maiming of loved ones, the daily trauma.

What he sees for Gaza is the “Riviera of the Middle East,” a beautiful playground for the rich. In order to achieve this dream, however, he must first move the 2 million people of Gaza, people who do not want to leave their homeland. Their resistance, of course, would mean a forced removal, and he would have to have a place to remove them to. He is pressing Egypt and Jordan to take them. They are not interested.

Of course, while he is working on this project, he is doing little to address the needs of the nation of which he is president. Instead of addressing needs that government can address, we experience the taking away of what is needed.

Jesus speaks of a spiritual reality when he says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” Evil keeps carving out of what ought to be and leaves us with nothing.

“We walk through the valley of the shadow of death.”

So, what are we to do when we are in the valley of the shadow of death? What are we to do when we experience the loss of care for others, the loss of compassion, mercy, humility; the loss of truth, of leaders telling the truth, the loss of leadership?

We must weep. We must grieve and lament. We must acknowledge our brokenness, our loss of love, our hardness of heart, our feelings of helplessness.

We must be still. And wait. We must be still and know that God is God. And wait. We must acknowledge God’s presence even if we do not feel it.

We must sit in the shadow, in the darkness and wait. Be open. Be prepared to see, to discern, to recognize next steps for witness and action, for certainly God has action for us to take.

And know that we are not alone in this. The love of God holds us together in community. Therefore, we must spend time with one another, pray for one another and together wait on God.

We must recognize each other’s gifts and various ways of serving and encourage each other. Each of us has a part. We must allow ourselves to be deepened in community—in a community that is sent into the world to be light in the darkness. We have work to do.

There is great power in the “body of Christ,” in the fellowship of a “people for others” and in the power of the Spirit at work in and among us, giving us discernment and direction for the work of love for this time.

And we know that “we can do all things through God who strengthens us.”

Filed under: Discernment, Grief, Leadership, Prayer, WitnessTagged with: , , ,