When it's tough to discern, see if the situation gives or saps your strength
June 30, 2004 - Reported in Spirit Daily.com online newspaper. Frequently we get the question: how does one discern? How do we tell if something is of God? This has to do not just with mystical circumstances, but with events in our lives. Often, we're at a loss. We just can't figure out which way to go. We have to discern. It happens to everyone. Not even the greatest saints were free of doubt. And no one -- no matter how great a saint -- can claim the ability to know it all. While on earth, we wear blinders. But there are certain ways we can perceive the Will of God, and the best is also the simplest: by praying, fasting (a key to discernment), and imploring the Holy Spirit. We should request His Presence by Name. He, of course, is omniscient, and so He should be implored fervently; as Scripture advises, without ceasing. When we bring down the Holy Spirit, we bring clarity; the fog lifts; and this is often all it takes to determine a situation. We can also judge by the fruits. That was a reading at Mass last week -- on the feast of John the Baptist: how we discern situations in the same way that we would judge a tree. A good tree yields good fruit and a rotten one bad fruit. So it is with situations and even people. Those who lift us up, who leave us better off, who give us something that is nourishing and sweet, are yielding good fruit and so are good "trees." At the opposite end, we have to watch out for those who leave a bad taste in our mouths. Anxiety. Obsession. Oppression. Duress. These are all bad fruits. So is desperation, depression, division, confusion, or aridity. Watch out if a situation makes you feel a vacancy. There is also the issue of strength. We're often asked how to discern an alleged seer or miracle. There are any number of rules, but one is "strength." If a person or situation lifts you up, if it adds to your strength -- in a way that endures -- that's a positive fruit -- whereas something that takes away our strength, that saps our energy, would be a negative. It may not be a person so much as the spirits around a person (never judge the person himself). This is also a way to discern whether you are using what God has given you. For it is important that we always discern ourselves. Are we bringing others down? Are we causing oppression or aridity? In the end, only God can bring us to proper discernment. In life, situations are often too complex to discern with intellect alone. We need contact with the supernatural -- and we reach that by praying, thanking God, and remembering what He has given us. When we find refuge in God we taste His sweet fruit (from the Tree of Life), and we also find the truth.
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