FR. RAMON MA. LUZA BAUTISTA, SJ
Step 5 – The Use of Creative Imagination in Prayer – Best and Worst Scenarios
To deepen our discernment, we can utilize one other facet more explicitly when weighing these pros and cons of ours. And this facet has to do with our creative imagination. And this is where we can put our earlier gathering of data to good use.
Once more, using our above example (diocesan or SVD?), the one discerning can take his first option and enter into prayerful imagination. Here, he can imagine himself already a diocesan priest with all its details and challenges – like being under this bishop in this diocese, having no community (unlike religious), running a parish, celebrating his daily Eucharist and other sacraments, serving God’s people, especially the poor and so on. As one imagines all these in prayer, he, at the same time, can journal the various responses of his heart. And in particular, this involves underscoring much the primary emotions and sentiments that continue to come alive in him.
Next, the person can take his second option. This time, he can imagine himself already as an SVD priest, with all its particulars – like being under a superior(s), living out the SVD charism and spirituality in community, regularly celebrating mass and the other sacraments, generously being in mission, available for various assignments, here and abroad and so on.
Here, in Step 5, it would be ideal for including the prayerful imagining of the best and worst possible scenarios of each option. This way, all the more, one could measure the real depth and intensity of his desires (or lack of it), where his heart is engaged truly and how much he is willing to pay the cost of pursuing the Holy Spirit’s lead in his life.
Step 6 – Seeking Internal Confirmation and Moving Towards a Particular Decision
When one has invested much time imagining all these in prayer, he then compares and contrasts. These are the top, dominant feelings, and inner movements that have come up quite regularly. One does this to ascertain which option more truthfully (diocesan or SVD). What gives me more joy, more peace, more thrill, more sense of inner congruence, i.e., which feels more “right”? In short, more spiritual consolation?”
In discernment, we may refer to this last step as our “seeking internal confirmation.” The overall principle here is this. Our most authentic and deepest consolations are that there God and his will for us cannot be far. We choose one particular option where steadily our consolations such as joy, peace, thrill, etc. have been more (or most) stark and alive.
With the entire process culminating with our actual choosing, it is best that we still give some time. This may be a few weeks or months, perhaps to “test” further our choice’s validity. It may happen that we overlooked some facts, or certain new situations have arisen, which we did not consider earlier. After some time, though, there has to be an apparent tipping point where we attain a sufficient degree of inner serenity and confidence regarding the option we have taken, knowing well that we have invested truthfully in the entire process.
Thus, the moment has come when we entrust all to the Lord, and we stop looking for further verification so that the actual living out of the fruit of our discernment can commence.
