What Is Ignatian Discernment?

Decision-making is an inevitable part of life. A quick Google search indicates we make around 122 informed choices each day. If we consider all the choices (including those we’re hardly aware of) the number jumps to an incredible 35,000 decisions each day for adults (with over 200 just about food!).

Our decisions range from the mundane (what to have for dinner?), to the practical (what to do with an unexpected block of free time?), to the potentially serious (should I call a doctor to check out that nagging issue?), to the major life milestones (is it time to retire?). Decisions are an inevitable part of life. And although they are the consequence of a privileged lifestyle where we have the luxury of many personal choices, they can also be exhausting.

The Christian tradition provides a powerful resource for making decisions. Ignatian Discernment of Spirits (which I’ll refer to simply as “discernment”) is a set of practices described by St Ignatius of Loyola in his book “The Spiritual Exercises.” He describes a framework for making choices in our daily lives and when we have significant life decisions.

I’ve realized that although I’m familiar with the discernment process, I have been using it less than I could. I want to get more comfortable applying the method so that it becomes a regular practice. Over the next nine weeks, I’ll summarize the key aspects of this process and provide thoughts about why we should consider applying it. (Note that this is a very complex topic – many books are available to cover discernment in depth – so I’ll provide only a rudimentary introduction.)

The discernment framework is as relevant for us as it was in the 1500s when St Ignatius developed the process, but trying to learn from the original writings is difficult. It’s also challenging to interpret the text to make it relevant to contemporary readers. David Lonsdale points out two major dangers of adapting a spiritual tradition¹. First, if we ignore the original context and focus only on how it can apply to our current situation, we can lose something important and potentially even do harm. On the other hand, if we do a simple literal translation, we’re ignoring the cultural setting in which it was written and how we are different today.

Therefore, I will attempt to stay true to the spirit and intent of the original yet use more modern terminology and descriptions to improve understandability. My posts will examine why this method of discernment can be powerfully practical for the second half of life, introduce some foundational terms and concepts, and then present the method of discernment for everyday life and significant decisions. I’ll also provide a list of resources if you’re interested in pursuing this further or understanding more nuances of the process.

As its name indicates, Discernment of Spirits is unapologetically spiritually based (specifically Christian) and is more than a simple set of steps to follow. Lonsdale characterizes it as “the art of appreciating what God has given us and discovering how we might best respond to that love in daily life. It is a process of finding one’s own way of discipleship in a particular set of circumstances, a situation where there are often conflicting interests and values and choices have to be made.”² Discernment integrates both reason and faith. It recognizes logic and facts, but the primary focus is determining where your heart is leading you (because, surprisingly enough, this isn’t always easy to know!)

This isn’t a practice that originated in theological reflection – Ignatius developed this process from his personal experience. He emphasized responding with flexibility to specific needs and circumstances. Discernment is practical; in our world that contains so many daily choices, it helps us decide how to act so that our choices reflect our faith. But it’s also not just a static set of steps to follow. It’s designed to help us develop the skills to recognize the motives attracting us toward and repelling us away from any given choice. Mark Thibodeaux characterizes it as this, “Ignatian discernment, then, isn’t so much about what to do but about who to be. It’s about becoming a person in tune with the movements that lead toward God.”³

Ultimately, discernment is at the heart of Christian spirituality. If we are serious about our spirituality, we must discern our choices so that our actions are consistent with our beliefs. Because it’s our daily actions that end up defining our lives. But the good news is that this doesn’t rely purely on our efforts. An essential foundation of the discernment process is the belief that when we seek to hear God’s voice, we can rely on God’s help in the process.

My next post in this series will look at discernment from the perspective of the second half of life. I believe this stage of life uniquely positions us to use this process effectively.

A Closing Prayer

God, extend Your grace to guide me in learning more about discernment. Although I might not be sure this is right for me, help me trust that whatever curiosity or interest I have is worth pursuing.

Maybe I’ll discover that I’d like my actions to better align with my core beliefs, and I am interested in building new skills to move me in this direction. Or I might just be curious to investigate how this process could work, but not (yet) be ready to implement this.

Even if I don’t know where it will eventually lead, help me understand that any step I take toward You is a good thing to pursue.

Amen

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Footnotes

1. David Lonsdale, Eyes to See, Ears to Hear – An Introduction to Ignatian Spirituality (Maryknoll NY: Orbis Books, 2000), 22-23. ↩︎
2. Ibid., 91. ↩︎
3. Mark E. Thibodeaux, SJ, God’s Voice Within – The Ignatian Way to Discover God’s Will (Chicago IL: Loyola Press, 2010), 6. ↩︎