Discernment is a wonderful thing – essential to flourishing spirituality and desperately needed in our church communities. I have welcomed the emphasis on discernment in the plenary process and support the idea of normalising it as a modis operandi at all levels of decision-making in our faith communities.
We’ve taught the principle to couples for several decades. One simplistic way of understanding it is as ‘decision-making in the context of prayer’. But I don’t think this does it justice.
Discernment, in my understanding, requires a deep and active faith. Simply saying a prayer at the beginning is insufficient. Discernment needs a climate of faith, an atmosphere of reverence and awe for God’s blessings and a mentality that seeks to do God’s will in every aspect of our lives.
Thus, discernment demands that we be willing to hold our opinions and preferences lightly. We need to be ready to recognise the presence of God in the other, even when he or she is being a real jerk! We need to be willing to acknowledge that our agenda might not be God’s agenda, at least not at this time.
For many of us, myself included, this is not an easy ask. We’ve laboured long and hard in the vineyard and we care deeply for the mission of the church. For discernment to work, we have to adopt a spiritual posture of humility. Let us pray for that.