Fall into the hands of the living God
“Corporate discernment of the will of God is a risky and imperfect proposition. In relying so extensively on the Holy Spirit, we make ourselves vulnerable to pitfalls and failures. However, far from being a weakness, such vulnerability is central to our understanding of the power of worship (and business) ‘in spirit and in truth.’
To fall into the hands of the living God requires leaping, laying ourselves open to risk. Our commitment to this process, and our assurance of its outcomes, can only be proven in the eschaton, but still we give testimony to the truth we have been given, and are able to say that we have tested this method and found it that it does indeed bring us into Unity with the will of God.”
— Eden Grace, 2000
Quaker minister
Reader Responses
What do you do when a decision requires discernment?
How do you “try” truth?
As God is Love, Love reveals all Truth.
Douglas R., Facebook
There is an old hymn that says, "Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy God." I take the time to drop into a deep silence that tethers me to that primary relationship with God that is the center of my being and the universe. I wait there, looking at the issue from as many sides as possible and asking for more sides to explore. And then I wait.
The love and care that lives in that center empowers each of us, and as the Shaker hymn says, "By turning, turning we come round right." Have patience the truth will emerge.
Dorothy G., Portland, ME, USA
I asked for a clearness committee about a big life decision I felt overwhelmed by. Although clearness did not arise from a single gathering, I found it so helpful to lay out my situation and concerns and be asked thoughtful questions by the Friends who gathered. I felt more grounded and capable of coming to a wise decision afterwards.
Michelle K., Facebook
I have thought about this a lot recently as I've wrestled with a leading that could result in a big life change.
For me, this discernment has required space, community, and time. I began by identifying the object of discernment, then setting a wide space around it - considering it in silence, offering it up in prayer, or writing about it.
Then, gradually, naturally, others entered that space. Sometimes this was through intentional conversation, but many of the folks who have helped me work through my current object of discernment have done so without me saying a word about it to them. Over time, as these people have passed in and out, the true shape of the object of discernment seemed to fade into view, emerging out of the spiritual landscape. In the last few days it all snapped together, and the way forward became clear.
Harootune, Discord
My initial “trial” is journaling, then talking with a friend who is a spiritual advisor, and then with my therapist of many years. After that I wait and wait, hoping to discern the right course of action.
Pam G., New Providence, NJ, USA
If you sit and listen, you will know.
Debbie H., Facebook
This Week’s Messages
Mon Feb 09
Parker Palmer: Don’t follow someone else’s truth
“Creating and holding space for discernment is profoundly counter-cultural work. We live in a culture that too often regards us as empty vessels to be filled with someone else’s knowledge, someone else’s agenda, someone else’s truth… Spiritual discernment is about trusting the fact that all of us are made in God’s image and all of us have access to God’s call for our lives.” …
Tue Feb 10
How truth suffers
“Nothing does reason more right, than the coolness of those who offer it, for truth often suffers more by the heat of its defenders, than from the arguments of its opposers.” …
Wed Feb 11
One hand on my heart, one hand on yours
“When I feel the hard edge of judgment in my body and hear it in my words and thoughts, I am learning that I need to stop and softly bring my attention to my heart. I like to hold the image of one hand on my heart and one hand on the heart of the other. From this place of compassion, I seek to understand both of us and empower both of us to be in our truths, whatever that may be. I give myself permission to be changed/influenced by the other. I also give myself and the other permission to decide to back away or disengage if that serves Truth. If I decide to disengage, I will do it with loving kindness and not harshness.” …
Thu Feb 12
Come to the light to be proved
“If you love the light, then you come to the light to be proved, and tried whether your works be wrought in God. But that which hates the light, turns from the light, and that shall be condemned by the light forever. And though you may turn from the light, where the unity is, and you may turn from the eternal truth; but from the witness of God in your consciences, (which he hath placed in you, which beareth witness for the living God,) you can never fly; that shall pursue you wherever you go.” …
Fri Feb 13
The grace of God deepens our faculties for insight
“If we are loyal to the truth as we see it, and respond with our might in the ‘common’ situations in day-to-day living as we face them, the glow of the grace of God deepens and nurtures our faculties for insight and for recognition of the true worth of things and of men.” …
Sat Feb 14
Discernment is like driving at night
“Because the evidence and experiences on which we act are usually conflicting and ambivalent, and because we are by nature vulnerable to our capacity for self-deception, discernment is often tentative and uncertain. We may not feel a great sense of having found the truth.” …
Read the source of today’s quote
Banner art by Sophie Wood Brinker
