The Mandolin Dilemma
For a brief period of time, I took mandolin lessons under a tree.
I was living in Bolivia and had acquired a new mandolin and...
Attuning to God’s Voice Within
My sons are now teens. It seems like just yesterday I put them down for a nap after lunch, and now, my youngest is...
Storing up the Water of Consolation
This summer on retreat I spent much time praying while sitting on large rocks off the northeast Atlantic Ocean. The wildlife is abundant there,...
Free to Risk Failure
We cannot choose correctly all the time. That plain fact inhibits many of us from making as many choices, and bold choices, as we...
Playing Jazz with God
The art of discernment can be compared to playing jazz, which is an adventurous form of music. In jazz, the musicians play a standard...
The Voice of Fear and Agere Contra
Recently, I’ve reached a new stage of discernment: the time right after the decision has been made but no action has been taken yet....
Making Big Decisions
In the Exercises, Ignatius describes a mode of discernment for making bigger decisions, traditionally called the election (SE 169–89). Making an election relies on...
Reframing Our Vision
In ancient Rome, Janus was the two-faced god of beginnings and endings, but also of transitions and passages. It is therefore no surprise that...
Yellow Arrows and Discernment
Several years ago, I was blessed with a chance to walk part of the Camino de Santiago. Each day, we awoke early, put on...
The Grace We Need
No matter how pure our motives and how flawless our discernment process, we depend on God's grace ultimately to help us make not only...