A hearing heart

Lutheran, The, Feb 2003 by Farrington, Debra K

Study. Learn more about God and how God works if you want to discern well. When we don't read Scripture and other books that help us expand our childhood understandings of God, we're left with a god that is too small, too boxed-in, to be a good partner in discernment.

God works in so many ways. Expand your horizons and don't forget to look for God's guidance in art, music, film and even in the objects and creatures in nature. God leaves clues about right living all over the place.

Seek companionship. Spiritual companionship and spiritual community are essential in the discernment process.

John Cassian (360-435), one of the desert fathers, tells the story of a hermit named Hero, who felt he could discern God's guidance without any help from his community. So he kept to himself all the time. One night, Hero "heard" God telling him to jump down a deep well from which God would rescue him as proof of Hero's faithfulness. Hero jumped down the well and died. Had Hero consulted his community, someone would have stopped him from doing something that had more to do with Hero's ego than with God's desires. Most of us won't hear God suggesting that we jump down a well, but we all have difficulty discerning God's real guidance from our egos and other false voices at times.

Discernment can never be done in isolation. We all need trusted spiritual companions. Richard of Chichester (1197-- 1253) may have summarized the work-and the delight-of living a discerning life witt his classic prayer that many know from the movie Godspell: "May I know Thee more clearly, love Thee more dearly and follow Thee more nearly, day by day."

I

spent a summer afternoon once with a boy in my youth group canoeing down the river in tiny little circles. He was positive he knew more about paddling a canoe than the instructor. He finally came around and followed the directions, and we began to actually get somewhere.

The discerned life is a lot like that. You'll have days where you're definitely going around in circles getting nowhere. But if your heart is open and hearing, you'll paddle straight down the river more often than you paddle in circles.

Farrington is the author of Hearing With the Heart: A Gentle Guide to Discerning God's Will for Your Life (Jossey-Bass, 2002).