The following essays by Fr. Randy Roche, SJ contain practical applications to daily life of  St. Ignatius of Loyola's "Guidelines for Discernment of Spirits" contained in his book, The Spiritual Exercises. Click on a title to read the article of your choice:

Don't Tell Me...- Recognizing the value of our own experiences.

It Was God!- Valuing our daily life experiences of God.

What We Can Expect- Making use of both positive and negative feelings and thoughts.

The Weakest Point- Building strength where it is most needed.

The One Thing That Must Be Said- When "talking about it" is most valuable.

Pushing Back- Dealing with opposition to our values from within.

Thinking Ahead With Balance- Reflection on the past as guide for the future.

The "Blahs" - A Fall From Grace?- Learning how to properly interpret some experiences.

Patience- Experiences that lead to acceptance of reality as it is.

Thinking and Feeling- Attending to the two complementary components of discernment.

Which Way?- Recognizing the basic directions indicated by thoughts and feelings.

Don't Tell Me...

There is no joy quite like that of coming into awareness of how some bit of reality from outside fits perfectly with who we are. Someone suggested to me that I try reading a particular Psalm and making it personal by exchanging my own name for “Jacob” and “Israel.” It was for me a very positive experience, imagining God speaking the words to me. By way of contrast, I have had well-intentioned people urge me to “speak in tongues.” It was something that they wanted to have happen, not anything to which I was drawn or attracted. It was an uncomfortable moment.

If something is good for us, then of course we want the same for others. The question is, did someone “do it” to us, or did we engage in some activity that resulted spontaneously in a sense of joy or gladness, of increased love or trust? If happened for us, but we cannot make it happen for anyone else. We can encourage or suggest that someone try the same activity. We can inquire as to their interest. But we do not control spiritual experiences for others.

We do not control our own experiences in the sense of making ourselves feel something. We may learn that taking some “quiet time” each day is quite helpful to our sense of well-being. But we do not create the good feeling. We do things that are appropriate for who we are at this time in our lives, and the consequences are often a sense of peace and harmony within. We might recognize and be glad about someone else’s good experience, but the one that is best for us takes place in accord with our own decisions to seek and to receive.

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It Was God!

Experiences of God come often during our daily lives. The more aware we are the more likely that we will recognize what is happening.

I have found that lots of people will, when they trust someone, reveal one of their weaknesses. We are aware of these things in our lives, and we are capable of talking about them. It is different with our direct experiences of God. We are usually much more reserved about them.

Very many people have had at least one "happening" which they just knew - with much clarity at the time - had to have been from God. Often, what happened shortly thereafter was a doubt that it really took place, which got the person out of touch with the experience. Then it was perhaps even forgotten, and certainly was not shared with any one else. Too bad! It was a personal contact with God which deserved a place in our memory of good things that really have taken place in our lives.

When people do recall and talk about such experiences, they will notice the difference between what actually happened to them, and then what happened afterwards that got them to let the special events go out of consciousness. For example: Someone is occupied with his or her own thoughts and concerns, when “out of nowhere” there comes an experience of great clarity that resolves a major concern, accompanied by an equally clear sense of God’s presence and care. The experience may be so powerful that the recipient is moved to tears of joy and feelings of a warmth throughout the body. It comes unexpectedly and is not a consequence of any action or decision. Something really took place. The experience passed; the feelings and clarity diminished. Then came the thoughts that chipped away at the experience: “It couldn’t have happened to me; it was just my imagination.” Or, “I’m just an ordinary person, it couldn’t have been God.” And so what started out as a personal moment to treasure is effectively denied as a reality. But if such an experience is shared with an understanding person, it is affirmed, clarified and appreciated on a deeper level.

Within ourselves, we have the capacity to either reflect or to rationalize. We can try to understand what has happened, or we can “explain away” something that is unfamiliar. Our integrity requires of us that we honor all our experiences, the good ones as well as the bad. It is right that we do recall these experiences that might have been from God. Notice the difference between the time of the event and what followed later. Our own sense of honesty will guide us in naming rightly what was from God and how we doubted it afterwards. Finally, talking to someone trustworthy about such matters may give us the additional reassurance that comes from another’s acceptance, plus the recovery of the original light and joy.

What We Can Expect

In a world of mixed messages and subtle invitations, what can we expect at the level of our spirituality?

Anyone who is living according to standards that transcend the meeting of their own wants and needs will experience spontaneous joy and happiness which are signs of God’s support and encouragement. With reason, we come to expect positive feelings to accompany good decisions. Likewise, those who are following constructive paths in life will usually have an abiding sense of peace, even in the midst of some pain and suffering. We can also expect – and we need to know this – that thoughts will come to us that will disrupt our joy and diminish our sense of well- being. All kinds of thoughts can appear in our minds about how hard or useless it is to keep to our principles. Good people experience disturbances like this even though they have done nothing wrong. The experience is close to that of having a mean-spirited person making disparaging remarks to us, with the purpose of upsetting us. These latter thoughts and accompanying feelings do not have their origin or cause in God.

People whose basic orientation is to help rather than to control or harm others, those who are responsive to their experiences of God, will notice that they receive gentle inspirations; they frequently have thoughts and ideas come to mind that are so in keeping with their direction in life that they seem natural and rather easy to carry out. As “owner,” or at least as our most welcome guest, God can enter freely, without knocking or causing the least disturbance. God’s interactions with us are similar to those of the people in our lives whose love for us we have come to trust. These friends and family members can make suggestions and we listen to them. Their values are so close to ours that we expect whatever they bring to our attention to be of value to us. God has only our best interests at heart, as well as those of everyone whose lives we touch.

We can also expect to receive some negative thoughts and ideas. These will also come without being asked, but they will cause some disturbance as they enter our minds, since they are outsiders and do not belong. The suggestions will be out of synch with our basic orientation. The thoughts come with a sense of being pushed at us, as though by someone trying to have their own way rather than to help us achieve our own fulfillment. The entry of ideas that are out of keeping with the positive flow of our lives can be described as strident, sharp and pushy. When we notice these kinds of qualities accompanying what comes into our consciousness, we are in a privileged position to simply reject them. No need to weigh their relative merits. Who would waste time by listening to an enemy telling us to hurt ourselves? We do not seriously consider the proposals of disgusting spam ads on the Internet. Nor do we need to waste our energy by trying to argue with unreasonable suggestions.

If we are careful to observe the positive or negative direction of the thoughts that enter our minds, we can “have it both ways.” When the thoughts are flowing in keeping with our direction, they are worth our consideration. They confirm the route we are taking. When they are contrary and disruptive, they can safely and wisely be dismissed as simply irrelevant on our path to God. By pointing in the opposite direction they actually give us an indication of the correct path upon which we want to continue.

The Weakest Point

Many of us have a particular kind of vulnerability where we often seem to get caught off guard; a particular weak spot where we tend to fail in living up to our expectations. Or we have a "button" that gets pushed and we react rather than respond. The experience is as if an unseen enemy had found the weakest point in our personality and kept working on us at precisely at that point. Our strongest characteristics do not seem to be challenged nearly as much as those that are tender and underdeveloped. We need most to build up and strengthen what is weakest.

Whether or not an enemy uses our weakness to get at us, we can help ourselves by noticing just how and in what particulars we experience confrontation with our values. We may wish that every conflict concerning our standards would be in the areas of our competence, but some honesty about our condition will serve us much better. Of course we will be attacked where are defenses are weakest! In even friendly competitions, individuals and teams are trained to look for the weaknesses of others and to exploit them if possible. What we need is to directly face our own weaknesses and do something that is both simple and wise.

Those who build or repair a brick wall do so one brick at a time - with care. They want it to last. We need to build up the wall of our integrity as a person at the weakest point. No need to think about every aspect of our lives. If we can recall where the action took place recently - even if it was a small failure or a slight attack - that is the place where we need to put in some bricks. When we know the spot, we can focus our attention there. We can rightly expect someone or something to push us at our weakest point. If we are ready, we can use the occasion to put together a response that is appropriate. Each little victory we achieve strengthens the weak part of our wall; over time, our weakness becomes one of our strengths.

Some people might complain that God should defend us where we are weakest and not let us be attacked where we are at risk of failing. Another option is to call upon God to give us exactly what we need each time our weakness is tested. This has two distinct advantages: We get help when and where we need it, and we learn through each experience how better to deal with a particular kind of difficulty. In a "big picture" it is far better for us to confront the reality of our limitations than to go about with a naïve sense of perfection. Parents are sometime surprised and chagrined when they find how quickly their weaknesses are perceived and manipulated by their children. What we ignore or hide from ourselves is usually visible to others. God, as dearest of friends, may let the attacks on our weakest point draw us to a very healthy sense of our humanity and to a more personal relationship with both the Inventor and the Savior of that humanity.

The One Thing That Must Be Said

A handy rule of life: be sure to talk about the one line of thinking that we would prefer to keep hidden. That thought which we might prefer to ignore, yet unsettles us as it nudges our consciousness is precisely the one thing that must be said to another person whose confidentiality we trust. The way we are made, our own thinking can become circular and ever more convoluted when our values and feelings are conflicted. When we choose to open that one difficult subject with another person, we have implicitly made the decision to deal with it. The commitment is to ourselves, though we need the help of another to hear us as we engage our deepest level of honesty. Though it may be a struggle to discover the words that best match the discord within, the freedom that comes from this openness often comes as quickly as a cork out of a bottle. It is not magic, but it is definitely spiritual.

Sometimes we come to a point of enacting a significant decision in our lives. We are pretty sure of our conclusion; we feel strongly that we have chosen well a particular direction. With all that, there is still the need for confirmation – not approval – through our honest communication with at least one other person. In searching for and finding the words to convey our “truth” to another, we will gain conviction regarding any choice that is in keeping with our deepest values. Though we might think that we have resolved on a change of job, residence or significant relationship, we become more certain of our decisions when we put them into words and seek to achieve that special resonance between our internal, private world and the larger world of other persons among whom we will live out our decisions.

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Pushing Back

As we go through life, we often experience internal opposition when we try to follow our inspirations or our basic orientation. We need rules to help us 'win' against the opposition. A good rule is: "When pushed, push back harder!"

All of us have had those moments when we were intent on carrying out a responsibility that we knew was ours, but after beginning, we had some “second thoughts.” If we insisted more strongly with ourselves on the course we had set, the fear usually had little chance to get into our consciousness and we succeeded in doing what we started out to do. The experience is that of winning a contest in the very private and intensely personal struggle where we overcome our fears and do what we have to do in order to maintain our integrity.

If we reflect on the experience of what happens when we quickly and forcefully go ahead with our good intentions, our confidence will be confirmed. No matter what ways we experience it, whatever pushes us away from living according to our God-given humanity is a real enemy. Though the thoughts, doubts and fears may be within us, they are more of a threat to our well-being than any opposing player could ever be. If it is painful to lose a game, our feelings are more painful when we give in to discouraging or negative thoughts.

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Thinking Ahead With Balance

Planning what we will do requires a certain level of thinking ahead to what will be needed to achieve our purposes and sustain a balance in life. Even when we cannot really plan, we do need to think ahead.

Thinking ahead entails reflection on the ups and downs in our lives – the good times and the bad. When we hit a difficulty, it helps to recall that we have felt better and to reassure ourselves that those positive feelings will come again. We have all experienced some really good times when things went very well. While we cannot simply hold on to those feelings, it is also true that difficulties will not last forever. We experience challenges that are difficult to deal with and successes that are fulfilling.

Balance in life is not about “equal time” for pleasure and pain. We are in a state of balance when we keep moving without falling. Uphill is harder than downhill, but both take us somewhere. A crash is more likely to happen if we think that there should be no obstacles or pain in our lives. That kind of thinking puts us at risk of not even noticing a small rock or hole. We can get knocked off our path if we come to believe that everything is supposed to go the way we want. Going downhill may be easier, but the faster we go, the more important it is to stay conscious and aware of our vulnerability. When we are working hard in the face of a headwind or going uphill, the risk of an accident diminishes. At those times, we are usually focused and very conscious of our surroundings and of our effort. When life seems difficult, the danger comes from discouragement that leads to quitting. The harder it gets, the more we need to consider where we are going and to recall that it can be easy again when the wind is not in our faces or when we reach the top and head downhill.

At our deepest levels, integrity, justice and compassion in dealing with others challenge us to maintain a balance. The most intense experiences may well be invisible to everyone but us. Here too, even in our relationship with God, there are enlightened times when we know with immediacy what to do, and get on with it. When we feel the Presence, praying is easy. Deciding and doing are almost the same act when all is clear in the mind and heart. Those are gracious times for which to be thankful. We cannot keep them in a box. When darkness prevails, that is the time to remember what it was like in the light, which we believe will return. That is also when we learn again that we are created. We are loved, but we did not choose ourselves into being. We can wisely acknowledge the cooperative venture of life between ourselves and inspiration. When we become least capable of following our own aspirations by our own strength that is when we lean harder on God who may be unseen and unfelt, but always there.

The "Blahs" - A Fall From Grace?

For most of us, there are times when we wonder what we are doing with our lives, whether the effort at retaining our values is worthwhile and what purpose is being served by trying to do what is right. We might wonder whether we have somehow become persons who do not count for anything even in the eyes of God. Our own good intentions don’t seem to support us. What is happening?

It is possible to slip and slide – to push out of mind a commitment we have made to a positive way of living. If we do that, it makes sense that we would experience the “blahs” no matter what outer signs we may give of being on top of things. If we deviate from what we have known to be right for us in relation to people or to God, there will be a kind of dis-ease inside us. We know how to deal with this: We return to the practice of getting some exercise as we had promised ourselves; we stop talking badly about others as we had decided; we take up a practice of quiet time or work less compulsively or drive without the radio so we can pray… whatever it might be. When we get back on track we feel more whole. We do know when the cause of feeling out-of-sorts with ourselves is a consequence of our own choices.

There are other reasons for feeling disconnected inside us that are less familiar, yet very important to understand. Good as we are, and good as we want to be, we really are not independent agents all on our own. We did not create or “invent” ourselves. Our life is a gift from God, and we have received much from other people along the way enabling us to live as we do now. When we experience a lessening of our feelings, interests and capacities for thinking and acting for the better, it does not mean that we have inadvertently become less valuing and valuable persons. We have a new opportunity to recognize and acknowledge who we really are: weak human beings, recipients of grace and inspiration directly from God as well as through the many people who care for us. When we pay attention to our roots we do not need to focus on changing our behavior. In so doing, we avoid that worst of human illnesses of heart: false pride. The day when we think that we have done it all by ourselves is a time of darkness and ignorance. Our healing comes from admitting the limitations of our humanity.

Another way to understand an interior state of near powerlessness is to consider how parents teach children to walk. They back away, once the children have learned to stand and to take some tentative steps. They don’t let them fall, but they do let them experience both the joy and the effort involved in taking steps on their own as best they can. Let the children walk when they become able. There is a lot more to learn! When we have learned how to “walk what we talk” we have still not yet completed our life’s education. God backs away at times, and we feel how hard it is when it seems as though we are totally on our own. We never are alone, and we do not "fall from grace" by some hidden process. We experience our limitations and the efforts involved in living according to our beliefs and values. We become conscious of how hard it can be to build our own character and to act and to interact well with others. This is one of the ways that we come to appreciate the reality of how we are part of a community, in a communion, and always beneficiaries of Goodness.

Patience

When I used to “pop off” as a young teen, my mother said: “Patience is a virtue.” To which I responded (this was a teen talking): “Well, I don’t have it!” I think we were both correct, though my words were not so much about truth as they were a further expression of annoyance. I have learned to be patient through experience. Patience has not come simply by knowing what it is. Neither has it come through one heroic decision to “get my act together.” Inspiration has sometimes brought patience easily, but at other times it has been hard, more a matter of just doing or saying the right thing.

There is a spiritual dimension to how we deal with what “bugs” us. When we have found it relatively easy to handle some of the unpleasant and unexpected things that happen, we might say that we were at our best, or were somehow inspired and blessed. When things really irritate us and we do not find within us an immediate happy and attractive response, we are in a position to rely on our previous good experience. For one thing, “we have been there before,” and we have managed to get through. This is patience. At those times when we seem to be more on our own, we make little choices – right choices – based on the same principles we used when it was easy. This too is patience. Also, we can reasonably tell ourselves that we will again experience times when it will be easier for us to deal with difficulties.

When I was a child, I did not value patience. Perhaps I was under the delusion that everything should be the way I wanted it. Now I prefer a way of speaking and acting that takes others into consideration while maintaining my own self-respect. It is work to hold back a critical word that will not help or to set aside an impulsive and angry response to a real or imagined hurt. The work is worth while. Rather than get “pushed out of shape” there is this other option of pushing back – not against another person, but against the impulse to lash out. This is patience. It is also an act of patience, when things are not going very well, to turn to God rather than to “kick the dog” or anyone who is within range. Patience is not at all passive. It is about insisting on the freedom and the right to choose a response to irritation and disagreement with something other than inner and outer turmoil. Rather than “swallowing one’s anger” it is a strong and quiet determination to deal with our feelings rather than let them dominate us.

The grace of a patient response comes on a one-at-a-time basis. We learn it, and partially earn it, every time we choose instead of react to what bothers us.

NOT a Time to Decide

There are times to trust one’s directions, to pay attention to the spirit of the law rather than the rule, and to make decisions with minimal reflection and consideration. Then there are times when our best advisor and guide is one simple rule: Do not make a decision when you are not at peace.

When we are knocked off our center, cannot find God in our thoughts or prayers, and find ourselves more pushed around by our feelings and thoughts than by what invites or encourages us, it is definitely a bad time to be making a decision. Not making a decision except when there is peace inside may seem a difficult rule to follow. Making a decision at a time when we are being influenced by thoughts and feelings against our basic orientation towards God can cause great harm to ourselves and to others.

There is an illusion in times of confusion that making a decision – any decision – will give us relief. That is equivalent to reaching blindly into a bag of good and bad apples and just taking one. Even if we happen to get a good one, we would consider ourselves lucky, not smart or wise.

This “rule” about not acting while we are without peace does not mean that we can always take time to get comfortable before making important decisions. When a crisis occurs, we have to move quickly. Most often we will have an immediate clarity about what is the “right thing” for us to do. If we reflect back on the decisions we made when we had to decide “on the spot”, we will probably recognize the most were the proper choices. There is no time when God is not present, though we might not be aware of it.

Thinking and Feeling

One of the big secrets in our relationship with God is the connection between what we think and what we feel. At one time we might think the path is going to be too difficult and have feelings of discouragement. At another moment the thought occurs that God will make it all possible and we have positive feelings about what we intended to do. Some people find that they can only with difficulty turn towards God while their minds are filled with thoughts of their own weakness. At another time the same persons notice how easy it is to pray as their thoughts are focused on the goodness of God. The connection between thinking and feeling is far from accidental.

We do not create the weather, but we can notice what is happening, and choose the right clothing. We do not make up our own feelings, but when we pay attention to what is going on in our minds we gain some understanding of our feelings. For example, when facing a challenging situation, we might have some feelings of anxiety, with accompanying thoughts about failing or quitting. Is it the challenge that causes the anxiety, or the thoughts about failing and quitting that disturb us? Thinking about facing the challenge usually evokes positive energy.

When our thinking is full of superficial events or possibilities, we might experience feelings of confusion and of distance from God. When we are occupied with thoughts about moving ahead we often feel energized, and have a sense that God is right with us. In making decisions, we help ourselves by attending to the “spiritual weather” we are experiencing. When our minds are cloudy and our feelings correspond, it does not mean that we have become less good than we were before, or less a responsive and responsible child of God. But the confused set of thoughts and concomitant discomfort do not come to us from God. When God approaches us, we find that our thoughts flow easily on how to act in accord with our values, and feel confidence and a sense of rightness.

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Which Way?

Good people have bad days and engage in some really hurtful thoughts. One very troubling question that arises at one time or another is this: Am I really going the right way in my life?" That question can run very deep - about one's relationship with God. In such a frame of mind, we might wonder whether we are wandering rootless with no ultimate direction to our lives. That is not a pleasant thought, but it is one that - when it arises - needs a definitive answer. Because this directly touches our personal faith, it cannot be resolved simply by someone else telling us that we are going the right way or the wrong way. We need an experience that leaves us clear about which way we are going.

God provides us with some clear feedback about our basic direction and life-orientation. We can look to some signs in our own experience that serve as well as stop and go traffic signals. We are not forced to obey the signals. If a kindly person on the street would warn us of a hole in the ground, we can believe that God who created us will not simply watch us heading for a deep pit, but will do the equivalent of shouting and waving to try to get our attention. Children need to be warned when they are putting themselves in danger of their lives. They also need affirmation when they are doing just fine. God is more motherly and fatherly toward us than any parent or most trusted friend.

What are the signs, then? A smile or a gentle word of encouragement is the normal way we give approval to one another. It is not dramatic. There is no emergency. Things are going rather well, at least in terms of our faith-orientation. The experiences of God that we have are similar. We might notice that we can talk to God rather simply - a sure sign that we are basically on good terms. When we take a look at the choices we have made - even major decisions involving commitments, we may have a sense of peace. We might find a gentle satisfaction in having done some things right. We might find meaning in some words of Scripture or another inspirational book; a gentle delight in the beauties of creation; a capacity to go to God with negative feelings such as fear and anger. These are simple and recognizable ways that God affirms us in the direction of our life.

There are other signs: If a child were just about to eat something poisonous, we would not calmly encourage them to better eating habits. We'd be very sharp and direct as an emergency requires. There might even be tears as a result of a pretty forceful "NO!" When a child of God is pretty much going after things that are in some ways pleasant, approved by peers, and so forth - but ultimately destructive of themselves and others, there will be experiences of almost a "poke" or a "swat;" a strong feeling that something's wrong. Call it "true guilt" or simply a God-given "watch out!" It is possible to squelch this feedback, ignore the feelings, and justify the direction of one's life. But it is there to be suppressed or at some point finally given the attention it deserves - for our sake.

Which way are we going? We take an honest look at ourselves, and notice whether we are aware of being where we belong or whether we are being shaken to our depths. The former is an affirmation of a good direction in life - not an approval of everything we do. The latter is a call to make some change in a part of our lives - not a condemnation of our entire person.

Randy Roche, SJ

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