Friday, November 19, 2021

More Ways to Frame the Ignatian Questions

 I've been repurposing an old sketchbook.  I had used it for sketching at work, but lately, I haven't been doing much of that.  So, I'm using the rest of the pages to sketch wherever I am.  

I leafed through the older pages.  I had taken some notes during the June intensive for my spiritual direction certificate program.  One of the sessions covered Ignatian discernment.  The presenter conceded that the process of Ignatian discernment can be a bit either/or.  Consolation or Desolation?  Closer to God or further away.

The presenter suggested we look for questions that will lead us to a Both/And frame of mind:

Does this lead us deeper into love?  This question gets us away from the happiness trap of consolation/desolation.  Happiness is a smokescreen, as is the good/bad dichotomy, for all the reasons we likely already know.

I also liked this question:  Is this bringing me life?  It's akin to this question, but takes us a bit deeper than this one:  Is this bringing me joy?

And here's another way of asking that can lead us to Ignatian discernment:

Does peace abide?

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