Discernment – if we imagine life to be a journey, there are times when the road is long and straight; then there are those times when we reach a crossroad and need to make a choice. This choice is what discernment is all about.
If you will listen, I will share with you a secret … a formula for discernment, something which will always work !
It is, discernment by way of peace. Choose the way that will guarantee peace – within yourself and among others. This is the secret.
I can hear you say: “Well, you didn’t give any solution; I thought you will tell me how to find that way ?”. That’s a fair question. After all, people always try to choose the way that maximizes what they care about … It may seem like I just re-stated that in terms of peace.
Actually, I did give the solution. The keyword here is peace. Why is this important ?
Because, what makes discernment hard is that, most of the time we think of it as a trade-off; a zero sum game as they say. You lose something to gain something else. What am trying to say is that, if the thing you are trying to maximize is peace, it is not a zero sum problem ! It is always possible to find a way that gains peace for everybody without losing it for anyone.
Now that I have told you, why thinking in terms of peace is a great tool for discernment, let us think about why this works. It works because, peace is something everyone can agree upon. We all have a shared understanding of peace and that means, peace for me is also peace for you. There is no need to play the zero sum game here.
Having said that, it’s clear we have made some assumptions here. For starters, what if my peace is not same as my friends ? Well, this won’t work anymore !
So, in essence, effective discernment is so closely tied to eternal values – those that endure everywhere, every time and with everyone. That is why, in the eyes of a believer, discernment starts and ends in God – the origin of everything eternal.