I had a friend who was trying to determine whether she should go back to graduate school or stay home with a troubled child. Both prospects carried good and bad aspects to them. The way she eventually decided would have made the Jesuit founder Ignatius of Loyola proud. A spiritual leader from the 1500s, Ignatius recommended listening to God, not just intellectually, but in the core of our beings. He encouraged people to pay attention to feelings of consolation or of desolation.
Does a specific action leave us feeling more alive, hopeful, encouraged? Or does it make us feel guilty, insecure, less like ourselves? My friend worked through her choices by trying each one on a day at a time, much like we try on clothes in a shop. Then she examined how she felt the two previous days. Eventually, she worked through her uncertainty into a course of action that brought her the most peace.
This message was adapted from “Faith in times of uncertainty” by Susan Schneider in the July 2013 issue of Cafe.
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