Fr. Melroy

Discernment

Fr. Melroy

General Introduction

Today we live in the world of ‘post-truth’ and ‘alternative fact’. The concept ‘post-truth’ and ‘alternative fact’ may sound very odd to one’s ears. And yet this is a phenomenon that is prevalent today. How do we understand this term? It simply means that I don’t have to rely on truth to substantiate my claim, if I can successfully manipulate people onto my side by other means. Truth is a superfluity and manipulation is the norm. So much do we identify with our masks these days that we fail to recognize ourselves, let alone others recognize us.

`Herein lay the relevance of my study. How do I remain in the truth when I am surrounded by deception and manipulation in every way and at every time? How do I remain steadfast in my vocation to follow Christ when I hear compelling voices that lures me away with the promise of satisfying all the longings of my heart? 

The term discernment can cover a lot of areas of human interest. But my focus would be to understand discernment through a specific psychological bias of motivation and within a religious context, namely through the Christian world-view. This means screening the various psychological factors that are at play when one has decided to follow Christ by responding to a religious vocation. Some factors does lead us closer to Christ and to what God wills, while some lead us nowhere, while there are some others that sets us in opposition to God’s will. Our growth as human person depends on recognizing these factors at work and making hard, concrete decisions about it. Only then, people can see something different about us. We complain about the dwindling of religious vocations but we are not willing to face the fact that the youth of today don’t see our religious vocation as a credible alternative and a challenging way of life. That’s because when we fall for anything, we don’t stand for anything.  And so, this thesis is primarily aimed at us, who are adult religious that we may have the ability to make a difference to the world in which we live by being credible and formidable witnesses of Christ.

And so in the first chapter, I seek to establish the meaning and importance of discernment vis-à-vis the movements in the human psyche. Human beings aren’t simply beings-in-themselves and beings-in-the-world. They have a unique capacity to transcend their own selves and their environment and to enter into an interaction with them either so as to negate a change or to effect a change, which means they have the capacity to provide a direction to their lives. In this chapter, we are going to analyse these various motivating factors that affect our lives, how they interact with each other and how they impact one’s decision and commitment. The second chapter puts forward the various principles of discernment that is found in Christian tradition, as provided in the Holy Bible, in the Teachings of the Church and by the eminent writer on the topic of discernment in the Western Christian Tradition, St Ignatius of Loyola. The third chapter seeks to explore how the life of discernment can help us in our task to become more Christ-like.

Discernment presupposes that our life is a journey and as religious, we are on a journey towards becoming Christ-like. This journey is not an easy one, as the Gospels themselves testify. It is full of perilous terrains, dangerous curves, illusory mirages, steep slopes and all forms of obstacles. There are times when a religious might feel like giving up and like retracing his steps. And so, this work is about recognizing and purifying these negative forces or motivations and strengthening those factors that motivate us to be Christ-like.

CHAPTER ONE

UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF MOTIVATION FOR THE PURPOSE OF DISCERNMENT

Discernment is purely a conscious process. But the object of the process is to become aware of hidden movements in the soul, to uncover the nature and the intensity of these movements, to understand where it is coming from and where it is leading to and to make a wise decision as to follow these movements or to restrain them. And so in this chapter, I will be making an analysis of the nature and components of motivation for the purpose of discernment.   

The Meaning of Discernment

According to Cambridge English Dictionary, discernment is the ability to judge people and things well. It is the faculty of discrimination, acuteness of judgement and understanding. If one can understand something that's somewhat hidden or obscure — if one can figure out the themes of a confusing movie, for example — one is using discernment. It comes from the Latin word discernere, meaning "separate." As such, it is a cognitive process whereby two or more stimuli are distinguished. Discernment separates what's important from what's not, the truth from illusion, the real good from the apparent good. In the Christian sense, Discernment has a more specific meaning – it is a process whereby we seek to become aware of the various movements in one’s interior being and by ascertaining these inner movements one tries to come to the knowledge about what comes from God and what comes from the enemy of the human self. (Rodrigues, 2008) 

Discernment and Motivation

As already mentioned, Discernment is a conscious process of understanding the movements in the soul. This means that one has to become aware of the primary energies such as our impulse, feelings and emotions within the human person that moves the person to act in one way or the other. However there are different opinions about the source of these movements. The question arises whether these movements are instinctual and automatic, or they have a purposive, deliberative and rational orientation. Some who belong to the psycho-analytic school of psychology would state that there are unconscious factors within the soul that cause these movements, while those from the behaviourist school state that they are automatic, learned reactions to the stimuli that come from the environment, while those who belong to the humanistic school and the cognitive school of psychology, while admitting that the basic motivating factors are unconscious, automatic and impulsive, also believe that humans due to their powers of rationality have the ability to become conscious of these factors and even override these unconscious movements.  And so, it is important to study the validity and the limits of these approaches and concepts connected to motivation before we seek to follow the path of discernment.

The Meaning of Motivation

The term ‘motivation’ is a commonly used term. It is derived from the word ‘motive’ and generally speaking it means needs, desires, wants or drives within the individuals. Fred Luthans defined motivation as a process that starts with a physiological or psychological deficiency or need that activates behaviour or a drive that is aimed at a goal or incentive. Motivation is one’s willingness to exert efforts towards the accomplishment of his goal. Motivation is an internal state or condition (sometimes described as a need, desire, or want) that serves to activate or energize behaviour and give it direction (see Kleinginna and Kleinginna, 1981a). And so, generally speaking, once can enumerate three essential elements of motivation that it arises or aroused from a need, it is directed towards a goal or incentive and it energizes a person to persist in an action despite opposition and struggles.

The Significance of Motivation

Ever wondered why some people seem to be very successful, highly motivated individuals?  Where does the energy, the drive, or the direction come from?  Motivation is an area of psychology that has got a great deal of attention, especially in the recent years to understand this phenomenon.  The reason is because we all want to be successful, we all want direction and drive, and we all want to be seen as motivated.

While this is an important concept in psychology, there are other fields as well such as business, education, sports, military that attaches a great importance to the concept of motivation.  For example, parents want their children to behave and do well in their studies. Businesses want to get the population to buy their products. Married people may want to change the behaviours of their spouses. In religious circles, too, motivation has a tremendous significance. Especially in pervading atmosphere of secularist, materialistic and naturalistic ideologies, there is a growing need in religious circles to preserve the motivation of its rank and file as well as in the hierarchy.

Most motivation theorists assume that motivation is involved in the performance of all learned responses; that is, a learned behaviour will not occur unless it is energized.  The major question among psychologists, in general, is whether motivation is a primary or secondary influence on behaviour.  That is, are changes in behaviour better explained by principles of environmental/ecological influences, perception, memory, cognitive development, emotion, explanatory style, or personality or are concepts unique to motivation more pertinent.

For example, it is known that people respond to increasingly complex or novel events (or stimuli) in the environment up to a point and then the rate of responding decreases.  This inverted-U-shaped curve of behaviour is well-known and widely acknowledged (e.g., Yerkes & Dodson, 1908).  However, the major issue is one of explaining this phenomenon.  Is this a conditioning (is the individual behaving because of past classical or operant conditioning), another type of external motivation such as social or ecological, an internal motivational process (e.g., cognition, emotion, or self-regulation), or is there some better explanation?

However, whether motivation has a primary or secondary influence on behaviour, one can conclude that the lack of motivation play a major role in bringing down the attractiveness of a particular goal and persistence of any action aimed at that goal, while on the other hand, a highly motivated person in a particular field is able to use his capacities to the full and perform well against all odds.

Categories and Types of Motivation

           Motivation is a complex concept that includes cognitive, affective and the conative dimensions as well as the relational aspects of a person. And so, it helps in understanding motivation when we try to distinguish it into various categories.

Extrinsic versus Intrinsic

In general, explanations regarding the source(s) of motivation can be categorized as either extrinsic (outside the person) or intrinsic (internal to the person).  A theory provided by Leonard, Beauvais, and Scholl (1999) states that extrinsic motivation are of two types, while intrinsic motivation are of three types. The two types of extrinsic motivation: a. Instrumental Motivation (rewards and punishments): Examples of this are; a person is bribed to do something or they earn a prize or reward. Pay-checks are extrinsic motivators. Fear of punishment and coercion are also extrinsic motivators. b. External Self Concept-based behaviour: Here one tries to match behaviour with the externally developed ideal self. In other words, a person will behave in such a way that will preserve the good image that he has in society. On the other hand, the Intrinsic Motivators are of three types. a. Intrinsic Process Motivation: The joy of doing something or a pleasurable activity. The task is interesting and provides immediate internal reinforcement b. Goal Internalization: These are self-determined goals and values that one is committed to live by which provides the motivation for an activity.  c. Internal Self Concept based Motivation: Herein one seeks to match behaviour with internally developed Ideal Self, what one believes oneself to be. Individuals are influenced by all five factors, though in varying degrees that can change in specific situations. 

Unconscious versus Conscious

These are two opposing views about motivation. Until the 20th century, the dominant view was that human actions lay under the domain of conscious control, and so factors such as will, intention, purpose, responsibility and accountability played an important role in motivating a person to act or not to act. Even actions caused by impulses and strong emotions were understood as consciously allowing oneself to be moved by these forces. However, today most psychologists are not willing to accord such a high value to consciousness. On the contrary, they believe that most human behaviour is the result of desires, impulses, and memories that have been repressed into an unconscious state, yet still influence actions. Even Abraham Maslow, who belongs to the humanistic school of psychology, also said that unconscious motives take a central role in determining how people behave. He said that any action must be understood by looking at what basic need it satisfies and more often than not, it is our unconscious rather than conscious motives that direct our behaviour. Then there are others such as those belonging to the school of psychoanalysis believe that even the so called rational decisions are masked forms of unconscious forces, hidden and unknown desires which are the real reasons for things that people do. An example is when someone is unable to stay in a long-term relationship and always finds a reason to break off his relationship. He may insist that there is a rational explanation for leaving a relationship, but his actions may actually be driven by an unconscious desire for love and belongingness, and an overwhelming fear of rejection. Deep down, he wants and needs to be in a loving relationship, but he finds ways and reasons to put an end to the relationship so as to avoid being rejected.

Emotional versus Rational

Emotion and Reason are two principle motivating forces that sometimes support and counteract each other. Emotional motivation is motivation that comes from one’s own needs. On the other hand, rational motivation is oriented towards a value or a meaning that is discovered outside of oneself. One has to manage one’s needs for the sake of one’s survival but the way in which one manages one’s needs is what makes us truly human and where reason comes in. When a person merely acts on emotions without giving a thought to values, he evaluates this action which results in feelings of guilt and shame. On the other hand, when a person focuses on values without being in touch with his needs or begins to intellectualize everything would sooner or later suffer from lack of energy, meaning and enthusiasm towards his commitment or he would be masking his unmet needs for approval and importance through such actions. (Rulla, 2004)  

Psychological Theories of Motivation

           Since Motivation is a complex phenomenon, various theories have been propounded by psychologists and even from outside the field of psychology to explain it. Here, some others

Instinct Theory

Instinct theory is derived from our biological make-up.  Instincts are rigid and fixed motor response patterns that are not learned, are characteristic of all members of a species, and have an inherited, genetic foundation derived from the process of evolution. Instinctual behaviours are obvious in many animals, for example a spider creating its web which is its home and a trap for its prey or the birds making their nests, feeding their young or painstakingly placing the twigs in place to form their new home.  How do spiders know how to spin webs?  How do birds know how to build nests? The answer is biology.  All creatures are born with specific innate knowledge about how to survive.  Animals are born with the capacity and often with the knowledge of how to survive by spinning webs, building nests, avoiding danger, and reproducing.  These innate tendencies are pre-programmed at birth, they are present in one’s genes, and even if the spider never saw a web before, never witnessed its creation, it would still know how to create one.

Humans have the same types of innate tendencies.  Babies are born with a unique ability that allows them to survive; they are born with the ability to cry.  Without this, how would others know when to feed the baby, know when he needed changing, or when he wanted attention and affection?  Crying allows a human infant to survive.  We are also born with particular reflexes which promote survival.  The most important of these include sucking, swallowing, coughing, blinking.  New-borns can perform physical movements to avoid pain; they will turn their head if touched on their cheek and search for a nipple (rooting reflex); and they will grasp an object that touches the palm of their hands. In more recent times, a case for human instincts has been made by the socio-biologists (Daly and Wilson, 1988). They propose that much of human social behaviour can be explained by the principle of natural selection – that is, behaviours that contribute to the preservation and promotions of one’s genes are favoured for survival. In the case of altruism, socio-biologists suggest that parents protect their own children often at great personal risk not necessarily out of feelings of love but because of ‘genetic selfishness’.

The Psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud is very similar to instinct theory, in that, he perceives human behaviour arising out of an unconscious mechanism for survival and is based on the principle of repression of unresolved memories. Based on the structure of the human personality, the conscious part of the human personality is like the tip of the ice-berg, while a large part of his personality is hidden in the unconscious part of his being, which influences the whole of his conscious life, his thoughts and actions. As part of this theory, he believed that humans have only two basic drives: Eros and Thanatos, or the Life and Death drives.  According to Psychoanalytic theory, everything we do, every thought we have, and every emotion we experience has one of two goals: to help us survive or to prevent our destruction.  Freud believed that the vast majority of our knowledge about these drives is buried in the unconscious part of the mind.

However this theory has been criticized as being narrow and overly simplified. Most psychologists agree that instincts play less and less a role as we move up the evolutionary scale.

Drive-Reduction Theory

Beginning in the 1930’s, the concepts of drive and drive reduction began to explain and replace the theory of instincts. Although drive-reduction theory does rely on innate, biological needs for the original impetus or ‘push’, it also suggests that the original arousal (drive) is non specific and that organism must learn specific action to take to satisfy this need. Motivation is therefore a combination of biology and learning.

According to Clark Hull (1943, 1952), humans have internal biological needs (a lack or deficiency). This need elicits a mobilization of psychological energy known as a drive that is directed toward behaviour that will satisfy the original need. These needs, or drives, are defined by Hull as internal states of arousal or tension which must be reduced.  A prime example would be the internal feelings of hunger or thirst, which motivates us to eat.  According to this theory, we are driven to reduce these drives so that we may maintain a sense of internal calmness.

While certain needs can be ignored, certain other needs cannot be ignored without the risk of losing one’s life. All animals including humans must eat, drink, take in oxygen, maintain body temperature, and avoid painful injuries in order to survive. Strong feelings of biological tension are created by the body’s demand for constancy or balance in the internal environment – a process known as homoeostasis. When balance is disrupted, strong signals that direct activity designed to restore homoeostasis is initiated. However there are also non-homoeostatic motives that influence behaviour. Sex and reproductive desires, for example, do not contribute to individual balance or survival, but they are necessary to species survival. One can choose to respond to them. The problem of explaining non homoeostatic drives is one of the major limits of drive-reduction theory. For example, how would this theory explain why we continue to eat even when our biological needs are completely satisfied? Or why someone continues to work overtime when his or her salary is sufficient to meet all basic biological needs.

Arousal Theory

Similar to Hull’s Drive Reduction Theory, Arousal theory states that we are driven to maintain a certain level of arousal in order to feel comfortable.  Arousal refers to a state of emotional, intellectual, and physical activity.  It is different from the above theory, however, because it doesn’t rely on only a reduction of tension, but it seeks to remain at a balanced amount of tension at any given point of time.  It also does better to explain why people climb mountains, go to school, or watch sad movies.

Incentive Theory

           This theory plays down biological forces in motivation that ‘push’ or ‘drive’ behaviour and focuses instead on external stimuli in the environment that ‘pull’ the organism in certain directions (Bolles, 1970, 1975). Because of certain characteristics of the external stimuli, the individual is motivated to perform some actions to obtain desirable goals or tot act in ways that avoid or eliminate undesirable events. People continue to eat even when they no longer feel hungry because the sight of the cake pulls them toward further food intake. On the other hand the sight of the mound of dirty dishes in the kitchen will push the person toward the living room couch to avoid the disagreeable task of dishwashing.

           This theory is supported by the behavioural school of psychology. Each of the major theoretical approaches in behavioural learning theory posits a primary factor in motivation.  Classical conditioning states that biological responses to associated stimuli energize and direct behaviour (Huitt& Hummel, 1997a).  Operant learning states the primary factor is consequences: the application of re-in-forcers provides incentives to increase behaviour; the application of punishers provides disincentives that result in a decrease in behaviour (Huitt& Hummel, 1997b).

           This theory suffers from the limitation of understanding human behaviour as automatic, non-purposeful and as enslaved to the quality of the stimuli that come from the environment.

Humanistic Theory of Abraham Maslow

           Maslow’s theory on the Hierarchy of Needs is considered to be a major breakthrough to explain human motivation. Through his theory, he was able to explain not just desires that arise out the need for survival and preservation of one’s species, but also desires that help him engage in activities that go beyond these needs and are uniquely human. According to this theory, humans are driven to achieve their maximum potential and will always do so unless obstacles are placed in their way.  These obstacles include hunger, thirst, financial problems, safety issues, or anything else that takes our focus away from maximum psychological growth.

The best way to describe this theory is to utilize the famous pyramid developed by Abraham Maslow (1970) called the Hierarchy of Needs.  Maslow believed that humans have specific needs that must be met and that if lower level needs go unmet, we cannot possible strive for higher level needs.  The Hierarchy of Needs shows that at the lower level, we must focus on basic issues such as food, sleep, and safety.  Without food, without sleep, how could we possible focus on the higher level needs such as respect, education, and recognition?

Throughout our lives, we work toward achieving the top of the pyramid, self-actualization, or the realization of all of our potential.  As we move up the pyramid, however, things get in the way which slow us down and often knock us backward.  Imagine working toward the respect and recognition of your colleagues and suddenly finding yourself out of work and homeless.  Suddenly, you are forced backward and can no longer focus your attention on your work due to the need for finding food and shelter for you and your family.

According to Maslow, nobody has ever reached the peak of his pyramid.  We all may strive for it and some may even get close, but no one has achieved full self-actualization.  Self-actualization means a complete understanding of who you are, a sense of completeness, of being the best person you could possibly be.  To have achieved this goal is to stop living, for what is there to strive if you have learned everything about yourself, if you have experienced all that you can, and if there is no way left for you to grow emotionally, intellectually, or spiritually.

This theory is criticized in part due to contrary empirical evidence. It is not true that one has to meet all our lower needs to be able to focus on our higher needs. On the contrary, all the needs are present all the time, especially when we consider the life of a full-grown adult and they are constantly seeking our attention and it is in this conflicting situations that humans have to choose between various needs. 

Cognitive Theories

While all the above theories focus on the needs of the human person in shaping our motivation, the cognitive theories aims to shift the focus to our belief systems and our mental processes as an important factor in shaping human motivation. Motivation is understood here, as goal-directed behaviour. There are various types of cognitive theories.

Attribution Theory

This theory proposes that every individual tries to explain success or failure of self and others by offering certain attributions. These attributions are either internal or external and are either under control or not under control.

In a teaching or learning environment, it is important to assist the learner to develop a self-attribution explanation of effort in which the point of locus is internal and one is in control.  If the person has an attribution of ability where the locus is internal but where he has no control, as soon as the individual experiences some difficulties in the learning process, he or she will decrease appropriate learning behaviour (e.g., I'm not good at this).  On the other hand, if the person has an external attribution which means that he either believes he is lucky or not lucky, there is nothing to be done by the individual when learning problems occur. If one receives a high grade, one can interpret the grade in a variety of ways: as if one has earned it through hard work or it was sheer luck. These attributions or the way we interpret what happens to us and how we behave have a strong effect on motivation. For example, people who attribute their own successes to personal ability and effort tend to work harder towards their goal than people who attribute their success to luck (Weiner, 1972, 1982).

Expectancies

The other cognitive element is expectancies that play an important role in motivation. In a learning context, one’s anticipated grade on the test affects one’s willingness to read and study.  (Vroom, 1964) proposes the following equation: Motivation is equal to Perceived Probability of Success (Expectancy) multiplied by Connection of Success and Reward (Instrumentality) which is again multiplied by the Value of Obtaining Goal (Valance, Value). Since this formula states that the three factors of Expectancy, Instrumentality, and Valance or Value are to be multiplied by each other, a low value in one will result in a low value of motivation.  Therefore, all three must be present in relatively high levels in order for motivation to occur.  That is, if an individual does not believe he or she can be successful at a task or the individual does not see a connection between his or her activity and success or the individual does not value the results of success, then the probability is lowered that the individual will engage in the required learning activity.  From the perspective of this theory, all three variables must be high in order for motivation and the resulting behaviour to be high.

Cognitive Dissonance

The third cognitive approach is cognitive dissonance theory which is in some respects similar to disequilibrium in Piaget's theory of cognitive development (Huitt& Hummel, 2003).  This theory was developed by Leon Festinger (1957), as social psychologist, and states that when there is a discrepancy between two beliefs, two actions, or between a belief and an action, individuals will act to resolve conflict and discrepancies.  The implication is that if an appropriate amount of disequilibrium is created, this will in turn lead to the individual changing his or her behaviour which in turn will lead to a change in thought patterns which in turn leads to more change in behaviour.

This theory suggests that individuals will seek balance or dynamic homeostasis in one's life and will resist influences or expectations to change.  How, then, does change or growth occur. One source, according to Piaget, is biological development.  As human beings mature cognitively, thinking processes and organizations of knowledge (e.g., schemas, paradigms, and explanations) are reworked to more accurately reflect one's own understanding of the world.  One of those organizations involves explanations or attributions of success or failure.  After puberty, when biological change slows down considerably, it is very difficult to change these attributions.  It requires a long-term program where constant feedback is provided about how one's behaviour is responsible for one's success.

Roseman's Theory of Appraisal

According to this theory, emotions play an important role in determining one’s behaviour. Emotions depend on one’s appraisal or evaluation of the content and the context of experience which is largely based on unconscious factors. This theory holds that there are certain appraisal components that interact to elicit different emotions (Roseman, 1996). One appraisal component that influences which emotion is expressed is motive consistency. When one evaluates a situation as inconsistent with one's goals, the situation is considered motivationally inconsistent and often elicits a negative emotion, such as anger or regret (Roseman, 1996). In addition, the appetitive or aversive nature of motive consistency also influences the emotions that are elicited (Roseman, 1996).A second component of appraisal that influences the emotional response of an individual is the evaluation of responsibility or accountability (Roseman, 1996). A person can hold oneself or another person or group accountable. An individual might also believe the situation was due to chance. An individual's evaluation of accountability influences which emotion is experienced. For example, if one feels responsible for a desirable situation, pride may be an emotion that is experienced. In addition to the two appraisal components, the different intensities of each component also influence which emotion or emotions are elicited. Specifically, the certainty and the strength of the evaluation of accountability influences which emotions are experienced (Roseman, 1996).

Roseman's theory of appraisal suggests that motive consistency and accountability are the two most important components of the appraisal process (1996). In addition, the different levels of intensity of each component are important and greatly influence the emotions that are experienced due to a particular situation.

The Direction of Purified Motivation

When one glances at these theories, we see that motivations are mixed. We can be motivated by various factors that need not follow the same direction. The basic motivation that arises out of hunger, for example, may not have a social utility for me and yet they are foundational and cannot be ignored. On the other hand, secondary motivations such as the desire for acceptance, status, friendship and power may be ignored and yet they have a very strong emotional content that is difficult to deny. However, there are other motivations that arise out of our cognitive capabilities and our evaluative capacities that which helps human beings to integrate his needs towards a certain transcendental value and towards what is really good. The importance of these values lies beyond what is important or good for me. The direction of purified motivations thus lies in becoming aware of our physical and social needs and integrating them and orienting them towards a transcendental value. (Rulla, 2004)

Conclusion

In this chapter, I have enumerated the various motivating factors in a human person that push and pull a person towards a decision. In the next chapter, I will be seeking to understand the principles one can apply as a Christian so that one can arrive at a decision that is pleasing to God and a support in his effort to become Christ-like.

CHAPTER TWO

THE PRINCIPLES OF DISCERNMENT

As we saw in the last chapter, motivation is a complex phenomenon and can arise from various levels and fields of human consciousness. Human beings are motivated by various factors that are at times inherently conflicting in nature. One can be deceived into thinking that one’s actions are motivated by a goal that is consciously and freely chosen but which might be arising out of an unconscious, unfulfilled need. Discernment is a process which can help one to uncover these motivating factors and to purify them, so that one’s intentions and actions are perfectly aligned towards a goal consciously and consistently chosen, which in the case of a religious, to follow Christ. This chapter seeks to enumerate and explain the various principles of discernment that can help a Christian and a religious to purify his motivations.

The Psychology of Discernment

Every school of psychology recognise that self-preservation and self-propagation is the dominant need in every human being. The humanistic school of psychology would go further and state that human beings are basically good and have an innate need to make themselves and the world better.  And so, we can conclude that one of the basic motivating factors in a human being is to grow, develop and enhance one’s life and influence the world in a positive way. At the same time, every school of psychology will also maintain that there are other motivating factors both within and outside the individual that are destructive and damaging to oneself and also to the society. The various techniques and interventions in Psychotherapy are designed to correct and to nullify these self-defeating and damaging motivating factors so that a person can continue on the process of growth and development. (Whiting, 2013)

Erik Erikson was one of the first psychologists who have provided a comprehensive map for psychological development of a human person, which involves consciously cultivating certain qualities that marks every stage of human development (McLeod, 2017). John T. Chirban has enumerated  seven qualities uniquely present within every human person regardless of culture that if nurtured opens his life towards growth and meaning, and if taken for granted, keep him wanting and helpless, functioning at a level far lower than his potential. These are spontaneity, reasoning, creativity, free will, spirituality, love and finally discernment. A person seeks to enhance these qualities by consciously choosing or deciding to cultivate these positive forces present within them so as to achieve his goal of self-fulfilment and self-actualization.

Spiritual Discernment

Discernment for Christians and for religious goes a step further as the goal is not success but faithfulness. Spiritual discernment isn’t simply the art of decision making, nor is it simply about achieving self-fulfilment and self-actualization. It is calling on the Holy Spirit to lead or give direction on a matter. We see in the life of the Apostles a lack of discernment even until Jesus’ Ascension, since their minds were blocked with their own idea of Messianic kingship. But it was the gift of the Holy Spirit that brought them discernment into the life and mission of Jesus and their own. It is the role of the Spirit to show to the church or to individuals what God wants them to do and be. There is discernment of gifts, spirits, actions, intents, the course of the times we live in, etc. From a Christian point of view, discernment is more than just a skill. It is a gift from God before it is anything else. Yet there are clearly skills one can put to use when using these gifts and one can become better at it through training and experience. Discernment is more than just a process. Even for the most material or nitty-gritty matters, there is a Spirit at work nudging and leading a person. Then again, even for the most spiritual matters, there are disciplines, methods, processes, lessons, means, and tools which the Spirit can work through to help one to discern rightly. Discernment isn't usually a sudden zap from beyond, but something which emerges from hard work and close attention.

The Discernment of Spirits

The process of uncovering or unmasking the various motivating factors in the Christian tradition goes by the name the discernment of spirits. These motivating factors are understood as spirits from a Christian spiritualistic standpoint because they are understood as either inspired by God or his holy angels or instigated by the demons or the urgings arising from the human soul itself deeply deluded by the effects of concupiscence. While these spirits (angels or demons) by divine design cannot directly overpower or undermine human will, they are as part of an underlying unity in the whole of creation allowed to influence human decisions.

While the demon and the human impulse is evil and the divine and angelic impulse is good, the judgment required is to discern the cause of a given impulse. Although some people are regarded as having a special gift to perceive this by intuitive light, most people are regarded as needing study and reflection, and possibly the direction of others.

This judgment can be made in two ways. The first is by a charism or spiritual gift divinely granted to certain individuals for the discerning of spirits by intuition (1 Corinthians 12:10). This is called infused grace. The second way to discern spirits is by reflection and theological study. This second method then is an acquired human knowledge; however, it is always gained "with the assistance of grace, by the reading of the Holy Bible, of works on theology and asceticism, of autobiographies, and the correspondence of the most distinguished ascetics. Finally, discernment also involves an act of submission to the Church. The gift of discernment is imparted to the Church which is the sign and instrument of salvation to the world. This is exercised especially through its validly appointed shepherds who have the task to guide and serve the community of God’s faithful.  (Debuchy, 1909) 

The Biblical Understanding of Discernment of Spirits

The primary basis and foundation for the teaching on discernment of spirits is found in the Holy Bible. It serves to provide clear principles that can help us to discern between the spirits.

Good Fruits versus Bad Fruits

St Paul in Galatians 5:16-23 speaks of two kinds of spirits active in the world: the Holy Spirit and the evil spirit. He posits two ways in which the two different spirits operate: the Holy Spirit inspires in one way, the evil spirit instigates in another and they manifests in different types of conduct which St Paul terms as fruits. The essential difference between the two are  the fruits of the Holy Spirit can be reduced to love of God and love of neighbour, and the fruits of all evil spirits can be reduced to love of self and indulgence. Wherever the love of God and the love of neighbour is manifest there one is able to discern the movements of the Holy Spirit, but wherever you find self-love and self-indulgence, this is the infallible revealed sign of the evil spirit. We can tell where the one or the other spirit has been active depending on the kind of conduct that we see.

It is impossible to perform good works as Christ expects his followers to do, without the assistance and the work of the Holy Spirit, who is the mediator of all goodness. Christ’s teachings cannot be lived out without the Holy Spirit enlightening the mind and continuously inspiring the will. Consequently, if a person gives himself to the Holy Spirit, then his conduct will be revealed, and while we may generously praise the person, we should first praise God; because, while it is true that except for the person's free cooperation he would not be practicing the virtue which he does - it is before, during and all through whatever good we do, mainly the Holy Spirit who is the responsible agent. What we're after in using Paul's principles is to find out where is the good Spirit in this world. Paul tells us He is in all good people; and not in some vague poetic sense, but in the most fundamental sense possible: that it is the good Spirit who makes this goodness really possible.

On the other hand, when a person is doing evil he is not precisely giving in to a power beyond himself; he is really giving in to himself. This means that except for the instigation of the evil spirit, one doesn’t need superhuman power to do evil. All one needs to have is to allow the evil spirit to tempt us to do our own wills. The Bible recognizes whenever there is evil, especially a great evil, it has been instigated by the enemy of the human soul which is the Devil. However, one should be careful to distinguish that essentially humans don’t need the Devil to sin, because the essence of sin is self-will contrary to the will of God. In other words, sin is the disruption of the primordial harmony with God in which we are created.

The masters of the spiritual life building on Saint Paul, therefore, said that we can discern the good from the evil spirit if we study the direction which the thought or the inspiration takes. If it is towards pride - which means self-satisfaction, self-complacency, self-adulation, in a word, self-will - suspect the spirit of evil. This is exactly how the Bible portrays the story of the human fall into sin. We have within us, provided we allow ourselves to give in to the demonic temptation, the capacity for all evil. But as to do the good in the manner of self-giving love, we don't have in our power either the light or the strength and so we need more than ourselves to do it.

Truth versus Falsehood

Just as there is a contest between good and evil there is also a conflict between truth and falsehood. St Peter speaks at great length about truth and falsehood, about the true and the false prophets in his Second Letter chapter one, verse ten. Peter identifies the false prophets as persons who have listened to the spirit of error and who are moved by the spirit of deceit and malice. But there are levels of malice in opposition to the truth. On the shallowest level is mere ignorance of the truth wherein the persons themselves may not be responsible. Second, and at a deeper level, is exclusion of the truth wherein one knows the truth, but ones accepts and prefers the opposite to the truth, which is error. At the third level, the person not only accepts the error but embraces the error and seeks to promote it. That's false teaching. But there is one deeper level - the dungeon - where the one, who having embraced error and is teaching falsehood, conceals his designs by stealth and cunning, in order to seduce others into error. All of this is implied when Peter warns the faithful against the prophets of falsehood.  

Apart from warning about false teachings, Saint Peter also warns the Church about the cunning designs and deceptive methods employed by the false teachers to camouflage their false teachings.  They beguile their listeners embracing evil as good and error as the truth; so they have truths, partial truths, aspects that are true; but it is essentially falsehood. The spirit of error never seeks to be identified. It avoids openness and frankness at all costs. It always makes evil look like good or it masks evil under the guise of good always. They have appealing personalities, pleasant manners, charismatic demeanour and they look disarmingly sincere but they belong to darkness.

Christ versus Anti-Christ

Saint John links the dichotomy between light and darkness based on the acceptance and rejection of Jesus Christ, who is the Light of the world. But he means something more definite than just that in one case Christ is accepted and in the other He is rejected.  Those who reject Christ are the followers of the Antichrist, the spirit at large in the world that has by now convinced many people that Jesus is not the Son of God and that he took on human flesh. Thus, for John, you can distinguish the evil spirit from the good spirit by their respective attitudes towards Christ. The spirit of evil denies that God took on human flesh, dwelt among us, and taught the human race the way to salvation, and is now teaching humankind through the Church He founded.

The Holy Spirit, operating in Christ's followers, professes Christ's divinity; and His followers thereby submit themselves to the hard requirements of His teaching, communicated by His Church - not, of course, because the teachings are hard. Monogamy, celibacy, self-sacrifice, charity towards the uncharitable, mercy towards the unmerciful, patience with the impatient, and the endurance of the cross is hard. That's not why the followers of Christ embrace these, but because, though hard and unpalatable to our natural desires, these mysteries of the faith should be lived out because the One Who told us - and through His Church tells us - they should be lived out is our God.

In conclusion, the Bible clearly encourages Christians to guard themselves against the spirits of evil, of error and of division by taking into account such signs as fruits of self-centeredness, pride, arrogance, rebellion and the rejection of Christ and what he has revealed through the Church.

Principles of Discernment in the Christian Tradition

Discernment as a virtue is highly esteemed in the history of Christianity. St John of Damascus calls it the queen and the crown of all virtues. Discernment is a gift or charism of the Holy Spirit. Directly or indirectly, they benefit the Church, ordered as they are to her building up, to the good of men, and to the needs of the world. (C.C.C. 890, 951, 2003).

A lot of parallels can be noticed between the Catholic and the Orthodox Churches as far as the general teaching on the discernment of spirits is concerned. Much more in the Orthodox Church than the Catholic Church, the origin and development of the teachings on discernment is in its rich monastic traditions. The monks lived a secluded life in the desert to practice the ideal of Christ in its literal perfection and they were considered as spiritual warriors who directly engaged the enemies of the soul and whose rich battle experience was a great resource of spiritual wealth to the entire Christian community. The Holy Spirit was seen as the master and guide of the spiritual life, enabling a Christian to live a holy life and this was considered as a necessary pre-requisite to growing in wisdom and discernment. However, it also stressed that a sure mark of the working of the Holy Spirit was that this relationship is lived out in the faith context of the entire Christian community therefore it involved submission and openness to a more experienced spiritual master who is adept in the ways of the Spirit and who has lived his life in faithfulness to Christ and the Church. Thus, discernment was to be exercised through the discipline of silence, prayer, fasting, listening, spiritual openness firmly rooted in humility and the desire to discover God’s will.

As opposed to these traditions, the Evangelical and the Pentecostal Christian communities emphasized the personal, direct and the internal character of the relationship with the Holy Spirit who guides the Christian in spiritual maturity and perfection.

The Rules of Discernment by St Ignatius of Loyala

St Ignatius of Loyola deserves the greatest credit for presenting the wisdom of the ages over the subject of discernment in the most lucid, practical and effective manner substantiated by the wealth of his own life experience. St. Ignatius of Loyola proposes rules of discernment which can help any Christian on the part of spiritual growth to understand his spiritual life, the working of the Holy Spirit as opposed to the evil spirits, the experience of spiritual consolation as against desolation and finally the ways to fight temptation and become free from spiritual oppression.

The first 14 rules are designed to teach us to recognize the Devil’s tactics and overcome them with God’s help.  The Spiritual life is ultimately about learning to recognize the voice of the Shepherd vs. the voice of the Serpent- following everything the Shepherd says and rejecting the suggestions of the Serpent!  This requires faith in the goodness of the Shepherd and trusting that He desires nothing but good for us, while the Serpent only wants our destruction.  One is always trustworthy and the other is always lying to us!  If we accept this, then knowing who is “speaking” is vitally important!  These rules also teach us how to figure out who is speaking. The last 8 rules are meant to strengthen our commitment to Christ and to help us to understand the subtle machinations of the enemy when he comes to mislead us as the Angel of Light.

These are then some basic patterns that one would anticipate. The good spirit usually brings love, joy, peace, and the like; the evil spirit characteristically brings confusion, doubt, disgust, and the like. Another pattern: when you are leading a seriously sinful life, a good spirit will visit you with desolation to turn you around; an evil spirit will keep you content so that you will keep sinning. Another clear pattern is the opposite of this: when you are seriously serving God, the spirits change roles. The evil spirit clouds your day with desolation to lead you away from God, while the good spirit fills your day with trust and love of God. And a final, easily grasped pattern: a spirit that works in light and openness is good, while a spirit cloaked in secrecy and deception is evil. (Bentz/pdf file)

The Purpose of Discernment

True discernment means not only distinguishing the right from the wrong; it means distinguishing the primary from the secondary, the essential from the indifferent, and the permanent from the transient. And, yes, it means distinguishing between the good and the better, and even between the better and the best. Thus, discernment is like the physical senses; to some it is given in unusual measure as a special grace gift (1 Cor. 12:10), but some measure of it is essential for us all and must be constantly nourished. The word used in Psalm 119:66 for discernment is taste. In 1 John 4:1, there is a warning not to believe in every spirit. And in 2 Cor 11/14, we find the mention that Satan can disguise himself as the Angel of Light.  Just as a person with infected taste cannot properly identify sweet and bitter flavours, the same way, a person whose mind is not renewed by the grace of the Holy Spirit cannot prove or know by experiencing something, what God wills or what is good because he hasn’t developed  a taste for it. A person whose mind is not renewed will find God’s wisdom bitter. And that is why, a person ought to grow in discerning the taste for the movements of the Holy Spirit to be able to do God’s will, (Mahoney, 1981).     

Discernment is the ability to make discriminating judgments, to distinguish between, and recognize the moral implications of, different situations and courses of action. It includes the ability to “weigh up” and assess the moral and spiritual status of individuals, groups, and even movements. Thus, while warning us against judgmentalism, Jesus urges us to be discerning and discriminating, lest we cast our pearls before pigs (Matt. 7:1-6).     A remarkable example of such discernment is described in John 2:24–25: “Jesus would not entrust himself to them … for he knew what was in a man”. This is discernment without judgmentalism. It involved Jesus’ knowledge of God’s Word and His observation of God’s ways with men. He is the supreme example of the person who prays for discernment, “Teach me good judgment … for I believe Your commandments,” (Ps. 119:66). Doubtless His discernment grew as He experienced conflict with, and victory over, temptation, and as He assessed every situation in the light of God’s Word. Jesus’s discernment penetrated to the deepest reaches of the heart and the Christian is called to develop similar discernment. For the only worthwhile discernment we possess is that which we receive in union with Christ, by the Spirit, through God’s Word. So discernment is learning to think God’s thoughts after Him, practically and spiritually; it means having a sense of how things look in God’s eyes and seeing them in some measure “uncovered and laid bare” (Heb. 4:13).

Preconditions for Discernment

           Certain dispositions and attitudes are needed for a person to be able to discern rightly. First, there has to be a commitment to look for God’s will in every detail of one’s life. Without an earnest seeking that comes through awareness and purification of one’s motivations, one is not naturally predisposed to do God’s will but one’s own will. Second, the person must have a sure faith in God’s love for himself and the world which must fill him with the hope that God will reveal his plan to him and give him the strength to accomplish it. Third, the discipline of prayer which has to be patterned in the manner of the Lord’s Prayer is not simply a means to ask God to fulfill one’s own needs but it is primarily to bring about God’s reign in one’s life. One can be very pious and religious but one may have a hollow spirituality and a faulty image of God as a shopkeeper who gives us what we want when we have paid the price. A discerning person is not a devotee but a disciple who are willing to live like Jesus and have his values. Fourth, a person has to be deeply in touch with one’s own thoughts, feelings and desires, for they play an all important role in our choices and decisions. Fifth, one should cultivate a greater awareness of the social reality in which we live, for it serves as a context in which God chooses to reveal his plan and purpose. Sixth, effective discernment is not possible if one has not achieved freedom from one’s fears, anxieties, prejudices, false beliefs, attachment to persons and things, resentment and unhealed wounds of the past as they can strongly interfere in the decision making process. Even if one can’t be perfectly free of these human realities which are a consequence of one’s sinfulness, one has to make sure that one is free of its control in one’s decisions and actions. Seventh, humility is the key virtue for discernment as it signifies one’s limitedness and weakness and the need and dependence on God. Eighth, the discerning person has to be other-oriented rather than self-oriented with a forgiving, compassionate and non-judgemental heart. This is an important principle for God’s call always involves giving of one’s own self in love and service. Ninth, one has to have a spirit of courage and adventure if God’s will requires us to go out of our familiar world and comfort zones. Finally, the person must have a well-formed conscience that is open to God’s voice and not deadened by self-interest and mixed motives.

           Since the requirements for discernment is very demanding, people often settle for shortcuts like tossing a coin or blindly relying on the understanding of a more experienced person or naively following age-old customs and traditions or even simply taking the most difficult path. But discernment isn’t such a casual attitude towards life nor is it about accepting difficulty for its own sake, but it is a realistic attitude that weighs every possible option in the light of God’s wisdom. (Inigo, 2017)

The Process of Discernment

Discernment involves a process with clear steps. First, one becomes aware or begins to perceive the voice or the call of God amidst the cacophony of voices around me. Perception is more than just seeing.  There can be conflicting views about what we see. And therefore a person or a community should be able to explore dispassionately and judge between all what persons or a community have seen about particular issue from different angles rather than just pick up a convenient alternative that one is more accustomed to do. Second, discernment involves the courage to read the signs of the time and to reinterpret one’s goal and mission accordingly and not simply follow what happened in the past. Only then can one find insight and relevance into the contemporary situation. To get as many options as possible on the table, one has to be willing to gather as much information as possible to check on the feasibility of each option. And finally, it involves making an appropriate choice. One cannot defer making decisions for eternity. Within the options and the resources at hand, a person has to make a choice. It may turn out to be a wrong choice. He may have to review this choice at a later date with the added information available. But one should have no reasons for guilt because discernment does not dispense a person from being human, limited and fallible. Also, discernment involves being decisive after due consideration in matters of responsibility and so one should not hesitate. (Wolff, 2002)

The Impact of Discernment

Discernment effect the way we live in four ways. First, it acts as a means of protection, guarding us from being deceived spiritually. It protects us from being blown away by the winds of teaching that make central an element of the gospel that is peripheral or treat a particular application of Scripture as though it were Scripture’s central message. Discernment also acts as an instrument of healing, when exercised in grace. I have known a small number of people whose ability to diagnose the spiritual needs of others has been remarkable. Such people seem able to penetrate into the heart issues someone else faces better than the person can do. Of course, this is in some ways a dangerous gift with which God has entrusted them. But when exercised in love, discernment can be the surgical scalpel in spiritual surgery that makes healing possible. Again, discernment functions as a key to Christian freedom. The zealous but undiscerning Christian becomes enslaved—to others, to his own uneducated conscience, to an unbiblical pattern of life. Growth in discernment sets us free from such bondage, enabling us to distinguish practices that may be helpful in some circumstances from those that are mandated in all circumstances. But in another way, true discernment enables the free Christian to recognize that the exercise of freedom is not essential to the enjoyment of it. Finally, discernment serves as a catalyst to spiritual development: “The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning” (Prov. 14:6). The discerning Christian goes to the heart of the matter. He knows something about everything, namely that all things have their common fountain in God. Increase in knowledge, therefore, does not lead to increased frustration, but to a deeper recognition of the harmony of all God’s works and words. (Inigo, 2017)

Conclusion

          

This chapter has been an attempt to bring together the various principles and processes of discernment as they are found in different sources of Christian spirituality and to come to a general understanding of discernment as a means of purifying and strengthening one’s motives in the path of becoming more Christ-like. The final Chapter will be an attempt to understand what it means to be Christ-like and how as a religious one can harness the power of motivation and use the faculty of discernment to achieve the end of becoming Christ-like.  

CHAPTER THREE

 

CHRIST AS THE GOAL OF TRANSFORMATIVE DISCERNMENT

Discernment of motivation is a process and not an end. It is a process to help one make right, balanced choices. For a Christian, it is a process that will help him to know the will of God in concrete situations of life and help him to make decisions in matters of greater or lesser importance. But the focus of this study is to understand discernment as a process that helps one to be transformed into the likeness of Christ, which will be the content of the final chapter.

Christ-Centred Paschal Vision

Christian Discernment is centred on an historical character of the person of Jesus Christ. And yet, one can talk about the ‘inexhaustible riches’ of Christ, which is witnessed through the prolific diversity of insights into the Mystery of Christ emerging from the bosom of the Church through an authentic inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  This is further enhanced and deepened when the mystery of one’s own life infuses into that search.  In the Gospel themselves, one can witness diverse Christologies, Mark presents Christ as the Suffering Servant, the symbol of the faithful Israel as presented in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah and the hope of the persecuted Christians in Rome, Mathew present Christ as the Promised Davidic Messiah, the hope of the New Israel instituted by God, Luke presents Christ as the Saviour of the whole humankind, especially the hope of the poor, the weak and the marginalized, and John presents Christ as the Divine Word from whom all that exists comes forth and the hope of divine life for all who believe.  And yet, in all this, the theme of the Paschal Mystery is all pervasive, as the fundamental rule of faith to perceive and experience the Person and the Mystery of Christ. (Parappally, 2016).

While the Paschal Event is ontologically linked with the total self-offering of Jesus Christ on the Cross, that opened the door of salvation to the whole of existence, by destroying death once and for all and restoring life to all God’s creatures, the Paschal Event has also to be understood from the perspective of one’s own self to have a concrete, personal meaning. From a psycho-spiritual perspective, it is not simply an event that happened in the life of Jesus, but it is an ever- present reality in every person, and in every choice he makes. It occurs whenever we make a decision to live life from our deepest and most sublime self, which is also our most authentic self. 

The Christian Vision as Articulated by St. Ignatius

St Ignatius does not begin the process of discernment, without laying the foundation of discernment in very clear and uncertain terms. And so, he proposes that one should not begin the retreat without bearing to one’s heart the sentiments that lay at the very root of Christian discernment. The first thing one need to impress upon oneself is the quest of the Eternal. If one is not part of that quest, one is wasting his time. Perhaps one is following a secondary quest where he will end up frustrated, or he will end up deluded with a certain amount of fake consolations and will go nowhere. Jesus wants people to approach the kingdom with this disposition that is to sell everything to get the precious pearl which is the Kingdom.

 

The Ignatian Method of Discernment

Various Christian spiritualties have developed in the Church to meet the challenge of leading human beings to the goal of becoming Christ-like. Most of these spiritualties however focus on the intellect and they gave an impression of considering desires and emotions as dangerous, as veering us away from our goal. The Ignatian form, however, see desires as the basic raw-materials on which the edifice of Christ-centred spiritual life can be solidly founded.  And so, his method seeks to integrate the energies and the movements of one’s desires and emotions into the project of discernment which is eventually meant to help a person to become Christ-like. Discernment from an Ignatian perspective is basically, the sifting of authentic desires that lead us to God and the service of his creation from the false desires that keep us enclosed into one’s own self. Thus, it is based on a sound theological principle that spirituality and life are not separate, and therefore it can only be compartmentalized at the risk of losing our full humanity. (Rupnik, 2002)

Desires

Desire is a part of everyday life and the root of life and human dynamic. It is a force that pushes us towards the conquest of the object that will quench our desires. It takes us beyond ourselves. Desires are however, ambivalent and complex. From desiring food, clothing just for the sake of it, we desire it for status and self-respect. Human desires emerge from needs and mediated to us by the processes of reflection, intuition, imagination, and natural thought. It is important for us to know our desires for they put us in touch with the truth about ourselves. (Joseph, 2014)

Artificial Desires and Authentic Desires

Each of us desires the same things, personal dignity, well-being and some measure of control over our destiny. It is why; we are naturally drawn towards the scope and possibilities that are provided by electricity, motorized vehicles, television, connectivity through mobiles and internet, and other such inventions of modern technology.

However, these same mechanisms are exploited by certain forces in the world to create what may be called artificial desires. These are the forces of capitalism and consumerism which create artificial desires in human beings and which distracts humans from its spiritual call and destiny. These forces make material possessions as an end in themselves and project money as a god that can fulfil human beings’ every need. And so desires become endless and inordinate and they lose their transcendental significance. Many people today judge their success in life by what they purchase and own and on the other hand, they lose their capacity for genuine interpersonal relationships and for other-centred love.

Advertising is one of the other methods that are used to turn artificial wants into perceived necessities. One can think about all the things that we consider as necessities today that in other times and in other cultures would be luxuries: a smartphone, a latte, wireless Internet service, fast-food or convenience meals. Through commercials, product placements in movies, print ads and other means, advertising has firmly established the belief to many that these are things we cannot do without in our everyday lives even though older people can easily recall life without them. A successful advertising message transcends the audience perceptions of needs and wants. It creates an emotional appeal that subtly convinces the audience that the item being promoted will make a difference in their lives by either making them happy, giving them status, satisfying a desire or providing security. One can think about advertising promoting sales. The sales appeal to shoppers by giving them permission to rationalize and indulge in wants that they might otherwise resist. The shopper feels he needs to get the item now, otherwise the sale will end, and price will once again be a deterrent.

Soon human beings find that his own desires have gained a mastery over him and he is being pulled on every side. At the same time, ideologies such as relativism, materialism, secularism and naturalism try to reduce human experience to what is physical and interpret the spiritual as creations of the mind. They deny any spiritual basis for existence. And so, the material world lose their potency to symbolize the spiritual, to signify that which is beyond and everything is seen from a utilitarian point of view, a thing to be manipulated and used for one’s own self. Also, these give rise to other tendencies such as individualism and liberalism which makes humans into a monad and creates an imaginary void that destroys the connectedness with the community which was endowed in his humanity. 

And so, a desire to understand and overcome desires is to be expected. Where there is no conflict, shows a lack of engagement and not inner peace. While, more conflict shows greater sensitivity to our deepest, authentic desires, fighting its way through inauthentic desires. This is beautifully exemplified by the story of the Samaritan woman by the well. The problem of sin is not that we desire more, but that we desire less and for lesser things and so spirituality is about heightening the horizon of our desires to include that which is truly Infinite, that which always remains beyond our desiring and yet before whom all our desiring ceases. This is what every human being is invited to and we are made capable of it through our faith-participation in Christ, the Sacrament of God and the presence of the Infinite in the finite. (Joseph, 2014)

Desires and the Spiritual Life

Spiritual desires don’t exist in separate compartments. For every desire is touched by God’s Spirit, though capable of misdirection. Unless we have some attraction towards God, curiosity, hope or desire, we will not seek a relationship with him. So God too, as if bends backward, to convince that he is truly benign, through the beauties of Nature, through our loves ones, through the Christ event above all.

The Buddhist tradition advocates the quenching of desires as a path of spiritual enlightenment and spiritual growth. In contrast to this, St Ignatius would advocate the cultivation of desires, the skill to work with it, shape it, integrate it, and to direct it in the right direction and not to be directed by it in all directions. We can desire freely, only if we have faith in God’s providence that He will intervene to provide for us. We must desire that God reveals our sinfulness to us, so that we can turn to him and be healed. It is vital for us to discover the thread that links our deepest desires behind the desires present on the surface. This can be discovered through reflective stillness for we are influenced by so many expectations, patterns of conventional thinking and behaviours as well as fears of change. (Joseph, 2014)

Imagination

           Fantasies or imagination generally has a bad name. It is contrasted with reality, logic and with hard facts. For many flights of imagination is synonymous with distractions and disturbances against real, substantial activity. But as we see for Ignatius, imagination was not just a method to provide help and assistance to meditation, but it was the central means to acquire true oneness with what is rooted in history and yet lies beyond the scope of human facticity and yet is the foundation and meaning of human life. 

In the Life of St. Ignatius

It is very interesting to note in the life of Ignatius, imagination was not just a method of prayer, but it was foundational in his conversion to God and the discovery of his distinctive school of discernment.  Ignatius was not praying when he made his discovery of how God and Satan, whom Ignatius calls the “enemy of human nature,” make their presence felt; he was engaging in day dreaming, and one set of day dreams had nothing to do with God or religion since it had to do with dreaming of the deeds of derring-do he would accomplish to win the favour of a great lady, a day dream, he tells us, that might last for hours. When he began to read the only books available, a life of Christ and a book of lives of saints, he would intersperse his first day dream with dreams of what he would do for Christ, and of how he would outdo the great saints in feats of asceticism. These too would last for hours. He enjoyed both sets of day dreams very much. For a long time Ignatius did not notice that there was a difference in how he felt after the dreams. But one day he paid attention to the fact that after the dreams of doing great deeds to win the lady he felt dry and out of sorts, while after the dreams about the following Christ and the saints he continued to feel content and happy afterwards. He came to the conclusion that God and Satan had been working on him, Satan encouraging the knightly day dreams, God the dreams of following Christ. This insight was the beginning of a life time of paying attention to his emotional states as well as his thoughts and reactions so as to distinguish the ways of God from the ways of the enemy.

It is very enlightening to take seriously how Ignatius learned how to discern the spirits. It was not through a learned treatise, but through the experience of paying attention to his thoughts and emotions as he engaged in day dreaming, something that seems very far from anything spiritual or religious. When it reads that Ignatian spirituality aims to help people to find God in all things, it is here that it all got started. If God can be found in day dreams, then God can be found everywhere. All that is required is that one pays attention to what is happening within as one goes through life. (Barry, 2016)

Imagination and the Spiritual Life

Among dictionary definitions of imagination, two fit Ignatius very well. One says that imagination is the ability to form a mental image of something not present to the senses. In the Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius encourages a person who is discerning to apply the senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch, etc.) and so enter into the key meditations and become part of Gospel scenes.

The second definition says that imagination is the ability to confront and deal with problems. For Ignatius, spirituality is not separate from life. It is in our daily living and the attitude one takes towards one life that one enters into a deeper relationship with God and not just through exclusive means of doing certain prayers and meditations. Here, imagination helps one to arrive at deeper insights and out of the box solutions to the moral and spiritual quagmires that beset our daily lives and it strengthens one’s resolve to achieve one’s best as we face problems and challenges in every walk of life. Moreover, it helps one to live in conformity with God’s will and to have a Christ-like attitude in our engagements with the world.  (Harrington, 2014)

Desolations and Consolations

These are the two basic terms in the Ignatian methodology for understanding the movements within self and to help us to grow to be Christ-like.

Ignatius knew far too much about human nature to be a rationalist or a stoic.  He knew that humans do not live by logic alone; and that even the clear logic of the Principle and Foundation of the Exercises would leave the human heart largely untouched and therefore unconverted. And therefore, he seems to presuppose that the human heart is never neutral; that it is, on the contrary, a movement of likes, attachments and inclinations on the one hand and a movement of dislikes, repulsion and derision on the other. However these movements aren’t to be understood on a simple emotional plane to be accepted but has to be understood with a clear reference to where it leads, whether it leads one to God or if it leads one away from God who is the Highest Good for a human being. 

According to St. Ignatius, “I call it consolation when an interior movement is aroused in the soul, by which it is inflamed with love for its Creator and Lord and, as a consequence, can love no creature on earth for its own sake, but only in the Creator of them all.” Again “it is consolation when one sheds tears that move to the love of God that is immediately directed to the praise and service of God.” And finally, consolation is “every increase of faith, hope, and love and all interior joy that invites and attracts to what is heavenly and to the salvation of one’s soul by filling it with peace and quiet in its Creator and Lord.” Consistent with God’s intention of leading us to Himself, consolations are the one means He employs to help us come closer to Him. However, we must also realize is not to mistake consolation for an experience of delight, happiness, tranquillity, enjoyment or such positive feelings. It is only when these experiences accompany and strengthen our movement towards God that we call it consolation. And so, it is useful to note as one can witness in the life of many saints that there is no experience or manifestation of joy on the sensible level, but there is rapid strides of growth in sanctity manifested through an increase in faith, hope and charity and in their selfless love of God and their neighbour.

           On the other hand, desolations are obstacles within the person experienced by him as the whole complex of negative sentiments which the enemy of the soul places or are natural states that accompany the ungraced moments in one’s life that is capitalized by the enemy of the soul to impede our progress in virtue and our movement towards God. St Ignatius describes is as “darkness of soul, turmoil of spirit, inclination to what is low and earthly, restlessness rising from many disturbances, and temptations which lead to want of faith, hope and charity.” The desolate soul is “wholly slothful, tepid, sad and separated, as it were, from its Creator and Lord.” This description is meant to be inclusive and allows of varying degrees of duration and intensity.

Desolations, as understood from Ignatius’ world-view come from the Devil and the evil spirits whom he refers to as the enemy of the soul. It would be wrong to assume that the devil always directly intervenes to produce a state of desolation. Unless supported by divine grace, fallen human nature is quite capable by itself of depressing the spirit and dragging a soul down to the point of despair. But even where the devil may not be responsible for inducing desolation, he is always ready to exploit it for his own malicious ends. The devil, says Francis de Sales, uses unholy sadness as the breeding ground for all kinds of evil. “It disturbs the soul, disquiets her, arouses vain fears, disgusts her with prayer, overpowers the brain and makes it feeble, deprives the soul of wisdom, resolution, judgment and courage, and crushes her strength.” Ascetical writers consider this the most valuable weapon in the devil’s armoury, to make the service of God appear burdensome and discourage our perseverance in good. With the same end in view, Ignatius continues “it is characteristic of the evil one to fight against such happiness and consolation” as God and His angels may produce in the soul, “by proposing fallacious reasoning, subtleties, and continual deceptions.”

And so, understood in this way, desolations are always emotional states of depression, but they are such experiences that impede our movements towards God and towards the generation of God’s life by the Holy Spirit in us. And so, sometimes a person may be experiencing delights and happiness which may not necessarily move him towards God or which may actually distract him from God. Sometimes, a person who is touched by God’s grace and who has a desire to grow in God’s grace may experience movements that resemble consolations in every possible way but which may be the tricks of the Devil that finally leads the person away from God and so these movements which are actually desolations have to be learnt through experience by discerning its fruits and through one’s openness to the Spiritual Director. 

Using Consolations as Reserve Strength

           St Ignatius also advices what one must do when one is experiencing consolations when one feels uplifted by God, when one feels prayer light and the love of neighbour easy. First of all, one must realize that consolations by themselves are not what is most essential, union with God surely is. Secondly, given the fragility and malleability of human nature, open as it is to innumerable influences, the experience of consolation do not last very long, and they constantly alternate with desolations. Indeed they are these alternating movements of consolation and desolation that are exploited by Ignatius as a help to making good decisions.

           And so, Ignatius has suggested very practically what one is expected to do in times of consolations. First of all, not to take it for granted, but to savour the strength and grace that comes during consolation for the times when consolations are gone (Tenth rule). And secondly, one is called to be humble and grateful for the consolations as works of God’s grace and the sweetness of his love, and to remember how poorly one does when the consolations are withdrawn (Eleventh Rule).

 

 

Turning Desolations into Opportunities for Growth

Since desolations are part of life and since we are open by nature to weaknesses and influences of evil, Ignatius cautions us in the rules of discernment as to how to respond in times of desolations. In the Fifth Rule, he writes that when in desolation, one must not change a previous decision or make a new decision because at that time, one is under the influence of evil forces, which is seeking to change the good direction of our life and so one should not make any decision under these influences. The Sixth Rule goes a step further and states that when in desolation, one should fight whatever is making us less than what we should be.  Perhaps intensify prayer, meditation, examination of conscience and our life of faith and penance. The idea is not to give up, but to strengthen our resolve and to actually act contrary to our impulses with firm determination by intensifying our efforts like the saying that goes, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. The rationale behind this idea is put forth in the Seventh Rule [Para 318], which states that when in desolation; we need to think that how without God’s support and the sweetness that comes with his love; it is actually so difficult to continue our fervour and intensity. But we should continue to believe that God is using this as an opportunity to strengthen us in our natural powers so that one may grow stronger and become more attentive to yield more deeply to his promptings. Finally, in the Ninth Rule, Ignatius lists out three possible reasons for desolations. First, our own fault due to laziness, tepidity, negligent, shallowness, lack of effort in the spiritual life. Second, it is a trial allowed by god for us to learn whether we love God or just love the gifts of God. Third, God allows us to experience our own poverty and need so that we come to realize that devotion, intense love, tears or any other spiritual consolation are all gifts from god and that they are not our own doing.

The Process of Spiritual Maturity

           Christian maturity is a process and one moves through certain definite stages of growth. This process is captured by Ignatius through a period of Four Weeks. Though the original format of these four weeks were meant to be in the form of a Retreat, in which the person was supposed to be away from his daily duties and focussed on the inner movements of his spirit, one can also use the exercises mentioned in his programme of four weeks while engaged in life as usual. These four weeks, therefore, are not to be understood merely as certain number of days but these are stages that a person has to undergo in the process of transformation. In other Christian literature, it is popularly put forward as the way of Purification, Illumination and Communion.

In each week, there is a content and there is a process; the content is salvation history while the process is to what extend can a person be transformed in the image and likeness of Christ. A disposition is required from the person who seeks to enter into the process of transformation which is a disposition of openness to the guidance of God’s Spirit in one’s life and through the Spiritual Director and generosity to respond to God’s invitation of love. There is also a call to enter into a state of indifference in the use of all created things, insofar as they don’t help human to enter into a relationship with the Creator.

The First Week

The First Week of the Spiritual Exercises is a period when a person is invited to experience God as the God of Mercy. The consciousness of sin and the sorrow for sin is an important theme in the First Week, but it is always meant to be understood against the horizon of God’s infinite Mercy who is constantly calling the sinner back to his true self, to his true identity. Sin actually has to be understood not just as breaking God’s commandments, but breaking God’s heart, for sin takes place within love because it is only within love that the experience of freedom is possible and therefore also the free choice not to surrender to God. In fact, sin means understanding oneself outside of love, having a vision of self that is not connected with others. In this vision of sin, the most radical self-recognition is not in extending oneself toward others, but in extending oneself in an egotistical way and also in seeing others from that perspective, even to the point that one sees others from what they can do for me. For example, if before sin one saw the world as the place of encounter with one’s Creator, after sin it is perceived only in terms of oneself and how it can serve oneself. (Ivens)

Sin is therefore seen in its full personal, historical and social dimension, as the negation of praise, reverence and service to God, as a negative power pervading the history of free creation, as destructive of our relationship with ourselves and with the world. The first stage of discernment separates my thoughts into two epicentres, my ego and God. This stage deals with my deepest self-knowledge, with how I most deeply recognize myself; whether I perceive myself as the self who thinks, acts and subscribes to life apart from others, or whether I recognize myself as a person of relationships and ties, who see myself together with others, above all, in the radical orientation of the relationship that gives life and is the recognition of God in Jesus Christ. If a person makes himself a centre, he sees himself as fulfilled it he is the focus of everything that exists, that is, of creation and relationships. But herein lies the deception, because it means binding things and relationship to a non-vital center that is not the true source. But if a person chooses Christ, he chooses the things of Christ, that is, everything that will call Christ to mind and will lead to him, and they will find themselves with Christ in everything.  And so, a choice is placed before a person, and a question is put before him; what does he really want? (Joseph, 2015)

The Second Week

The focus of the second week is a deepening of the discernment process. It presumes that a lively relationship with God is already established by the exercises of the first week and the person is ready to deepen his relationship and commitment to Christ. It is this stage that is generally known in classical spiritual literature as the Illuminative stage. While in the first stage, the person has made a radical choice to leave the path of sin and to follow the Redeemer, in the second stage, the person is challenged to see what it means to follow the Redeemer and is invited to give more of himself to God.

Magis is the Latin term which Ignatius uses to define the purpose of the Second Week, which means “the greater, the excellent, the best.” It’s associated with restless striving to always do better, to undertake a greater project, to set more ambitious goals. However, it is something more than simply doing something great for God. It is rather opening oneself to a real relationship with God, where what is demanded of oneself may quite be contrary to what one considers to be great. It can be understood with the analogy of a love-relationship, where the lover wants to do great things for the beloved, but as the relationship progresses, the lover realizes that what he has been doing is not really what the beloved truly seeks. It is here that the relationship truly begins to mature when the lover begins to really see the world from the point of view of the beloved and begins to truly do what his beloved wills. The same becomes true in one’s relationship with God in the Second Week. The person is led away from his presumptions and deceptions about his zeal for God and helped to enter into a space where one can really listen to God’s voice in the depths of one’s heart and respond to it. In this stage, one requires attaining the ability to decipher what seems to be coming from God but actually is coming from one’s own self-centred needs and what actually is coming from God. (Manney)

And so, in the First Week, after one has experienced God’s abundant mercy, one has to feel overwhelmed and it is in this overwhelming feeling of love that should make one go forth before the Lord, to seek not what one wants but to seek what God wants. Sometimes this may not be immediately possible and a person is free to discern whether he has the capacity and the willingness to make the commitment required for the Second Week.

The Third and Fourth Week

A desire for a more intimate revelation of Jesus and the grace of being as perfectly united to Christ as one is made capable of is the grace desired in the Third and the Fourth Week. It coincides with the Stage of Communion as understood in the classical Christian literature. In the Third Week, one is invited to contemplate Christ in his Passion, Death and the Resurrection, which is indeed the core of the Christian Mystery and the Christian spiritual journey.

           The Way of the Cross is inescapable mode for someone who seeks to enter into the glory of the Resurrection. In the prayers and meditations of the Third Week, one is called upon to contemplate the sufferings of the Saviour as narrated in the events of the Gospel, while in the Fourth Week, one is called to contemplate on the account of the appearances of the Risen One and the joy and peace that He brings.

The point of the Third and the Fourth week is Identification with Christ. In fact, it is an incorporation into the kenosis, which was the predominant feature of Jesus’ way which reached a high-point on the Cross and which bore the fruit in his Resurrection and in our redemption. The Third Week is thus the deepening of the choice and the relationship achieved in the preceding week and the Fourth Week is the fruit of this process.

This contemplation is a rewarding experience in terms of one’s choice to follow Christ. Jesus died an apparently scandalous death, humiliated by his enemies and yet his very death brought about a change in the understanding of death itself. In his death, Jesus showed himself as the obedient servant of the Father who chose to die that others might choose to live. For by showing his disciples that they need not fear death, they were free to embrace life without fear. Jesus opened a new dimension of living based on the promise that they would share in his resurrected living. The Resurrection is therefore God’s gift of freedom, the achievement of the fundamental yearning of the human heart. (Joseph, 2015)

Finding God in All Things

The spiritual life is a schooling of the heart also referred to as acquiring the purity of heart. To desire wholeheartedly and single-mindedly is not to desire exclusively, to desire God at the expense of all other desires, but to desire inclusively. It is to desire God in everything one desires. To order one’s attachments is not the same as to suppress all attachments leaving the attachment to God to remain alone, but to find one’s attachment to God in and through all attachments. One has to remember the theological principle that God and created things are on the same level and thus do not enter into competition. This was also the way of Christ who became one like us in all things, who experienced all things the way we do and yet did not sin because his mind was transfixed in God knowing presence penetrates all things and who orders all things according to his purpose. (Jacob, 2001)

Conclusion

Thus, we see in this chapter, the integrated vision of St Ignatius who gave all Christians valuable insights and a valuable method to grow in one’s spiritual life and become Christ-like. This method does not exclude or compartmentalize anything but in every concrete situations and in every little and big decisions, it seeks to order one’s life in union with God’s will, by giving us rules in which one can reliably sift through what is of God and what is not of God and thus orient one’s life in a definite sense towards God.

          

GENERAL CONCLUSION

Discernment is a conscious process. On the other hand, motivations are generally below the conscious level. It lies hidden unless, we try to find out. It has to be deciphered carefully. And to apply discernment to motivation is precisely to do this, to bring to consciousness what is hidden. Following Christ, which is the purpose of Christian life, is not simply mechanical or external following of certain laws or an impulsive action, but it a deliberative choice and a passionate commitment and so it is important that one becomes aware of the motivations that affect our lives.

Discernment is also a cognitive process. It is process of awareness, understanding and judgement. Conversely, motivations arise out of needs. As such, it is predominantly affective or an emotional dimension. It moves you towards or against something, depending on the needs that are pre-dominant at that moment, thus giving energy and dynamism to our lives. And so, discernment is about applying one’s mind to judge which motivations are worthy of a follower of Christ, which actually helps him to become Christ-like and which does not. 

Discernment is a spiritual process. By spiritual, it doesn’t mean following beliefs or rituals or laws of a particular religious tradition or a community. But it is the overall capacity to transcend the orientation towards an immediate satisfaction of our physical needs and to reorder our lives in search of a deeper meaning and a definite purpose. On the other hand, the study of motivation is more empirical and result oriented. And therefore, it has an emphatic psychological bent. And so, the integration of discernment and motivation for the purpose of becoming Christ-like involves a movement which is not purely a spiritual pursuit or a psychological analysis, but a movement that contextualizes the human search for meaning, within the whole gamut of human desires that are at play at any given moment. And therefore, to put it in another way, the process of self-denial which is an essential requirement of the discernment process for following Christ cannot happen without a prior self-acceptance, the key principle guiding human motivation, because one cannot give up what one has not owned and understood. 

The mediocrity in religious life, the constant distractions and a sense of discouragement and emptiness are symptoms of lack of motivation which further leads to sinful living, addictions, depression. And these are some of the pitfalls that can endanger the religious vocation, the call to become Christ-like and therefore the principles and the processes of discernment has been suggested as one of the most powerful means given by the Church and by eminent spiritual thinkers to help us remain steadfast and enthusiastic in one’s calling. Just because there are crosses to bear on account of the sinful world that we live, doesn’t have to make our commitment to Christ and to his values less joyful and enthusiastic. Rather there should be a bubbling sense of fulfilment in doing the right thing. A life of discernment is about enumerating these pitfalls and providing guidelines that will keep the religious on the right path of growth and fulfilment.