Good Sunny Morning (at least it is sunny here in Hamilton). The window over my desk gives me a wonderful view of the city. It may be blurry because of a year’s worth of dust on the outside of the window, but it is still a source of sun and warmth.
Praying in the Midst of Life – Week 3 –
1. At one point, Ron suggests the more we know of “self,” the easier discernment (and obedience) becomes. Why might that be the case, and how do you feel about the implications of such a statement.
2. Is there something you heard or saw today that you would like to borrow and incorporate into your own prayer life?
4. What is the difference for you between God’s will and God’s yearning?
5. What are the ways you discern God’s yearning for you?
6. How are you obedient, that is how do you “listen toward” God through scripture and other people in making decisions?
Quotes to think about:
John 1:35-38a: 35 Again the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look! The Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this and followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned and noticed them following Him, He asked them, “What are you looking for?”
“My will is really God’s deepest will for me.”
“If I am being as faithful as I know how to be, then God’s not going to care what I do?” (i.e., “what I do” as in occupation.”
‘Obedience’ from two words which translated mean “to listen towards”
Discernment: “waiting until the sureness is there”.
Who do we “listen towards” in discernment? – A.: God, ourselves, others, the world
Discernment is a process where we listen towards God, ourselves, others and the world, believing that the decision we discern/make is made within the Presence of the Holy Spirit.
The more we know about ourselves the easier discernment is.
Life – “You know what the boundaries are, so have fun.”
Principles for discernment.
- Do discernment in an atmosphere of prayer
- Look to the Scripture for guidance
- Discernment is done over a period of time. Discernment needs time to reflect on choices and time to listen (to God, ourselves, others and the world).
- Seek the advice of others when doing discernment.
- Make a commitment to the discerned decision.
- Joy and Peace. Sometimes the feeling of joy and peace with the perceived decision comes with the decision. Sometimes it does not. Sometimes it comes only after the first step is to put the decision into effect.
Ron del Bene: “My yearning for you is that all decisions will make you more loving, more caring and more serving.
Suggestion: If there is something you take to God in prayer about which you are earnest, bring it and stay there to empty all your feelings about it to God and to dialogue or talk it out with God. Show God ALL your feelings and desires and thinking about it?
A Celtic Blessing for this day
May the blessing of light be on you – light without and light within. May the blessed sunlight shine on you like a great peat fire, so that stranger and friend may come and warm himself at it. And may light shine out of the two eyes of you, like a candle set in the window of a house, bidding the wanderer come in out of the storm. And may the blessing of the rain be on you, may it beat upon your Spirit and wash it fair and clean, and leave there a shining pool where the blue of Heaven shines, and sometimes a star. And may the blessing of the earth be on you, soft under your feet as you pass along the roads, soft under you as you lie out on it, tired at the end of day; and may it rest easy over you when, at last, you lie out under it. May it rest so lightly over you that your soul may be out from under it quickly; up and off and on its way to God. And now may the Lord bless you, and bless you kindly. Amen.
Scottish Blessing from Celtic Blessings and Prayers
Bewildering Winds 