First Principle and Foundation

I recently viewed a video on Ignatian Spirituality offered by Spiritual Directors International.  This is the first of twelve sessions, New Perspectives on Ignatian Spiritual Direction.  A link can be found here https://www.sdicompanions.org/ignatian-wisdom-in-troubled-times-free-recorded-session/?mc_cid=5fe87984a3&mc_eid=34c6998033.

My knowledge of Ignatian Spirituality is limited, and I found the video to be a good introduction.  I particularly found the Ingnatian approach to discernment to be of particular interest.  I believe that discernment is particularly important in helping us to navigate the journeys which we are all on.  The ability to discern is vital in finding the path that we are called to travel.  There are many choices which we all face in our lives - which road will we take when we come to a place where the way ahead is obscured. Dante opened his brilliant Divine Comedy with a statement that captures this quandary:

In the middle of the journey of our life, I came to myself, in a dark wood, where the direct way was lost. It is a hard thing to speak of, how wild, harsh and impenetrable that wood was, so that thinking of it recreates the fear.

Most, if not all of us, who are in the second half of life, can identify times in which we were faced with such choices.  We can look back and imagine how our lives might have been significantly different if we had made a different choice.  However, we also have many times when we must make what seems to be less significant choices about how we want to live each day. Do I make that phone call or send that email that has been hanging over my head for days or weeks?  Do I make changes to my diet that would probably be a healthy choice?  Can I sign up for one more educational seminar on Zoom, which seems to be calling my name, when I am Zoomed out?  Do I need to go into my small corner and recharge my batteries?  I could go on and on but I’m sure you get the point.

My understanding of the Ignatian approach to discernment involves two basic steps.  First you must develop your first principle and foundation.  In effect, I understand this to be your ultimate purpose in life.  This is something which is going to take introspection and self examination and, I’m sure, the Ignatians have much to say on this.  The first principle and foundation of Ignatian Spirituality is:

God created human beings to praise, reverence, and serve God, and by doing this, to save their souls. God created all other things on the face of the earth to help fulfill this purpose. From this it follows that we are to use the things of this world only to the extent that they help us to this end, and we ought to rid ourselves of the things of this world to the extent that they get in the way of this end.

My first principle and foundation, at least at this point, is to become the person that God created me to be.  Once you have your first principle and foundation, the choices you make are determined against this foundation.  In effect you discern how or to what extent the different possibilities facing you meet your first principle and foundation.  How you do this and what criteria you use is the art and science of discernment and will probably involve trial and error and judgement.

As I noted at the beginning, I am not knowledgeable about Ignatian spirituality so I am sure there are people who can point out how my understanding is lacking or may even be off base.  However, I want to share with you my understanding of the principles of discernment and how discernment works in my life.  I am the first to admit that I have a lot to learn in this and many other aspects of life.  I will explore more of this next time. 

May you be blessed in the path that you choose on your journey.

 

Discerning the Work of the Holy Spirit

Yesterday I preached on spiritual gifts based on the Epistle reading of 1 Corinthians 12:1-11.  A copy of my sermon posted as usual.  St. Paul declares to the church in Corinth that everyone has spiritual gifts.  The question I posed to my captive audience (actually the two congregations) is what spiritual gift they have received. 

I believe that Paul was correct (no surprize) and each of us is given spiritual gifts.  He lists a variety of gifts that are possible;

To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

However, we often do not recognize them as gifts in ourselves and others.  I believe we have problems with recognizing them because we do not recognize them as spiritual gifts and perhaps if we do, we do not know what to do with them.  I would add that there are other gifts not listed by Paul—he didn’t say the list was comprehensive.  One I find particularly helpful is the gift of dreams.  The challenge we have with all these gifts is to learn the language of the gifts; they are God’s Forgotten Language.  We need to learn the language that God is speaking to us in these gifts.

These spiritual gifts are by definition the gifts of the Holy Spirit working in our lives.  However, one of the challenges with such gifts is to know when it is actually the Holy Spirit at work in our lives and not other forces whatever they may be.  They can be the power of suggestion or emotions which can overwhelm us or other forces, some of which can be negative and led us astray.  Just because it ‘feels’ right doesn’t mean it is the right path to follow.  The question is, then how do we know if it is the Holy Spirit working in our lives?

As Paul notes in his letter, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”  So that is a primary key to knowing if it is the Holy Spirit; it needs to be ultimately for our good and the common good.  However, it is still often hard to know if a particular action is for the common good.  The religious authorities who wanted Jesus done away with certainly believed they were doing the right thing, “You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” 

What we ultimately must turn to is the another gift; the gift of discernment.  Before we rush to embrace something we believe we are being directed or encourage to do by a divine source of any kind, we need to stop and consider carefully what the consequences are.  It is helpful in this process to have some guidelines which we aid us in discernment.  Some work has been done in this area in understanding dreams.  There can be many messages we receive in our dreams.  However, the language of dreams is in symbols which can often be challenging to understand.  Below are some guidelines which have been developed for working with dreams.  They can be helpful in discerning is what you believe is the Spirit actually for your good and the common good:

How are we to be sure that we know what God is telling us in our dreams?  The following questions can provide guidance in discerning if our dreams are guiding us to follow the will of God[1].

·         Is the course of action legal?

·         Is it in any way harmful?

·         How will it affect those I love?

·         Can I live with the repercussions?

·         Is the action impulsive?

·         Is the message persistent, presenting itself in other aspects of life?

·         Will the action lead me closer to God?

·         Will the action benefit others?

·         Will this make me a better person?

·         What does my spiritual tradition say about this?

Anglicans do have the three pillars of our faith to guide us which points us in the same direction on our journey; scripture, tradition, and reason.  I hope and pray that we all will be guided by the Holy Spirit on our journey.  Blessings,

Greg

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[1] Svob, Connie Dreaming for Christians in ‘The Rose’ Summer Fall 2006