The Spiritual Dimension of Discernment (Part 1)

2/9/21

Dear friend,

Last week we began to explore discernment in greater depth, and I offered a practical exercise to get you started.

(If you missed last week's letter, you can find it archived here.)

Today I want to offer another practical exercise, this one directed toward helping you begin to identify your spiritual "language."

When I was working as a 1:1 spiritual director with individuals, this was one of the core components of how I approached that work, particularly in the early days of work with someone: learning their spiritual language.

This had as much to do with how a person named God as it did learning how their spirit connected with Spirit.

When the demeanor changed, when the peace came, when the pause happened, when the laughter or joy erupted—these were markers worth noticing. What was happening in those moments? What were they responding to, talking about, revisiting? What helped them land on that firm ground or reach that greater expanse?

Today I am offering you an exercise that gets you started down the path of learning your spiritual language if you've not identified it before. It's an exercise that helps you start to notice your way of communicating with Spirit or Spirit's way of communicating with you.

The invitation is to make two lists.

On the first list, you're invited to write down any foundational spiritual experiences you've had in your life—moments when you felt (either in the moment or looking back), "That was a spiritual experience for me."

It might be:

• "When I was standing on that cliff's edge in 2009 and felt myself connected to something larger."
  
  

• "When my car spun around on the freeway that one night and there were, miraculously, no other cars nearby and I felt myself held and protected."
  
  

• "When I was staring at the icon and felt its eyes staring deep into me."
  
  

• "When I was four years old and felt like Someone was standing next to me but no one was there."
  
  

• "When that person I'd not thought of in years kept coming to mind, so I called them, and they were in a moment of really needing that phone call."

The possibilities for what you might name as your foundational spiritual experiences are endless. There is no right or wrong way for this to look, only what you know of your own experiences and what they signified to you.

Now for the second list. On this list, I invite you to write down any everyday experiences that you've noticed help you feel more connected to your own spirit and/or Spirit.

These might be:

• "Any time I'm hiking in the woods or walking along the water."
  
  

• "When I'm sitting in silence."
  
  

• "When I'm dancing in a free-form way with my body."
  
  

• "When I'm journaling."
  
  

• "When I'm flinging paint on canvas."
  
  

• "When I stare at a candle or a flower or the sky or the ocean."
  
  

• "When I'm talking to a close friend and they ask a question that takes me deeper."
  
  

• "When I'm talking to someone and something pops out of my mouth that I didn't know before that moment was true."
  
  

• "When I'm sitting in a church, listening to Gregorian chant, or watching sunlight stream through a stained glass."
  

Again, the possibilities here could be endless. It's not about what I have or haven't named above. It's about what you would name. When are the moments when you experience deep connection to spirit and/or Spirit? What does that look like, sound like, feel like for you?

This is about learning your spiritual lexicon. You are on your way to developing it.

I'll be back next week to talk about how these two lists can help you in your moments of discernment.

Yours in spiritual companionship,
Christianne