Christ Lutheran,
In the Episcopal Church, we have lately been having lots of conversations about discernment: what it is, how to do it, why it matters, and where and when it applies. The conversations have particularly been about young adult discernment but the more we talk about it, the more we come to realize that discernment is a lifelong process.
Put simply, discernment is about figuring out who God is calling you to be (generally) and the specifics of God's call for you in this time and place and season (specifically). Discernment feels the obviously recognizable when it looks like choosing a college major or which college to attend, deciding whether to take this job or that one, moving back to your hometown or flying the coop, wondering whether to get married in the spring or in the fall, in the mountains or in the church. There are also plenty of choices we make that do not register at the level of discernment. I might not imagine that God wants or needs to get involved in my choosing beef, chicken, or fish at the wedding reception.
What matters to say is that discernment always comes from a place of recognition that God made you specifically and with a particular purpose. God instilled in you a particular set of skills, passions, interests, longings, and gifts as well as a particular disposition and personality and set of quirks and all of these add up to a unique way that you are called to be and serve in the world. The question might be "How am I equipped to help heal hurt in the world and help build up community and friendship among God's people?"
But what a vague set of questions, Pastor Ethan! That is exactly right! But rather than vague, perhaps what a broad set of possible answers! We can put so much pressure on ourselves to pick the right thing, the right major, the right job, the right move, the right next step. When we frame our life's discernment as being a needle-in-a-haystack game of finding the one right thing among dozens of incorrect things, it's a lot of pressure -- more pressure than it's meant to be. Discernment is not always about being able to select the right set of circumstances for yourself (is life really ever than clean and easy?) and much more often about figuring out how to live God's call for you with the hand you've been dealt.
It's quite possible to believe that anywhere you find yourself, you are able to live God's call for you. In that case, discernment might simply and easily be waking up each morning and asking yourself: how does God need me to live today? how does my community need me to serve today? how can I be the most myself today?
Happy discerning, Christ Lutheran,
Faithfully,
Ethan
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