Discernment/selfish Desires

[CorJesu]

Does anyone have any articles on discernment and perhaps if you know any that you may post the link here?

 

How does one know when visiting a community that perhaps many things are good; however, a community may lack a few things that you really desire to have....is not your own selfish desires, or perhaps a sacrifice...and that not all communities are going to have everything that a person is looking for?

 

CorJesu

[PhuturePriest]

I don't know of any articles, but I recommend rather speaking about this to a spiritual director or trusted Priest/Sister. Just because someone has a blog, it doesn't mean they are any more of an authority on spiritual/discernment matters than you and I are. A negative about the internet is we assume every article has been written by an expert simply because it's an article and it was written well and had fancy words or catch phrases in it.

[nikita92]

What matters most in a community of your choice??

[Aya Sophia]

Agree with FP re: taking counsel w/SD and/or trusted priest. Always good to have this as you go along.

 

How does one know when visiting a community that perhaps many things are good; however, a community may lack a few things that you really desire to have....is not your own selfish desires, or perhaps a sacrifice...and that not all communities are going to have everything that a person is looking for?

 

 

 

The first community I entered was very attractive to me on a natural as well as spiritual level and perhaps more on the natural.  I had my own tastes which mapped to theirs, aesthetically, musically, intellectually, artistically, etc.  To this day I can't say how much of my choosing them was out of "self-directed" desires.  But the Lord allowed this and perhaps even ordained it as this commmunity was very clearly where He wanted me to be at that time.  Being as I was, perhaps I needed the extra bait of a material life that was deeply attractive to me.

 

Now, years later (more than a decade, certainly), all is different.  I no longer feel a need to have the externals map so comprehensively to my natural attractions.  In tandem with this, my being drawn to my community seems now to be much less self-directed (I say "much less" as I know there is and will always be a degree of self-directedness in my choices and actions).

 

imho, it's a significant grace and sign of maturation that you have become aware of this element of self-directedness (seems to be an occupational hazard in discernment, at least starting out).  It may be that the Lord is giving you the strength and maturity needed to discern beyond your attractions and more purely into His will.  In any case, this would certainly be a good point to discuss with SD or priest.

 

Prayers and props....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[brandelynmarie]

I must admit I've always believed pholks will have mixed motives for just about anything, even in vocational discernment. So yes, that's where others come in to help us discern God's desires for us...they help give us balance in discerning.



Delight thyself in the Lord & He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psalm 37:4

Edited November 2, 2013 by brandelynmarie

[Catherine Therese]

Whatever you do when you discern (and the others have given good advice) I'd recommend that, whilst we refuse to be scandalised by the fact that we are in fact human and weak and have selfish desires/motives, we can never just let that rest as the status quo.

I think its a very worthwhile practice to get into a habit of constantly placing our own weakness at His feet and asking Him to purify our motives, to teach us TRULY how to love as He does.