Is Community Rebounding a Thing?

[chrysostom]

On 1/3/2021 at 2:48 PM, gloriana35 said:

This is general - by no means only applicable to consecrated life. I think we need to be very cautious about thinking that everything that happens means that God wants or doesn't want anything. In an earlier post, there was a reference to how a couple who are infertile might get on an adoption list because they cannot accept that God doesn't want them to have children. Lots of people are infertile - I've known many couples (infertile or not - my cousin, who has four children, adopted another to prevent a young woman he knew from having an abortion) who adopted, and there is no moral objection (as some have to IVF.) Not being able to conceive is a natural problem, and doesn't mean 'God doesn't want you to be a parent.'

I'll not even get started with all of the sadness I have seen, which stemmed from someone's acting on (or feeling utterly shattered by) an idea that "God doesn't want" something. 

Great thoughts. Despite knowing all the "right things" about discernment I recently fell into the trap of making a decision based on the subjective conviction that I was supposed to take one path over another, based on a kind of fatalistic interpretation of my circumstances and fleeting emotions. I did not recognise the fatalism for what it was until - ha! - some providential circumstances opened my eyes and allowed me to retrace my steps.

It also took advice from a priest who has been through the dark night. He said bluntly that sometimes there are no answers. (About discernment questions.) I would put it like this: you have to feel free, because you are free, and this freedom is an expression of God's love for you. He is not going to smite you for making the "wrong" decision. (That is, the only wrong decision is the decision to sin.)

It helped me get over myself and make a decision that I am happy with on all levels.

[Anastasia]

53 minutes ago, chrysostom said:

It also took advice from a priest who has been through the dark night. He said bluntly that sometimes there are no answers. (About discernment questions.) I would put it like this: you have to feel free, because you are free, and this freedom is an expression of God's love for you. He is not going to smite you for making the "wrong" decision. (That is, the only wrong decision is the decision to sin.)

Oh, this is so good! Very helpful.