Discerning Our Path
October Newsletter
Dear Fellow Travelers,
I’m sensing a change of seasons - and it’s not just the harsh autumn winds that have been blowing outside my window recently.
These changes are happening on a personal, collective, and global level.
On a personal level for me, there are changes in the season of motherhood and professional life. As my kids become more independent, an era is coming to an end, and a new one is beginning to take shape. Different skills, approaches, and mindsets are required of me, and I’m gradually finding my way into this new phase of life.
There’s also the collective POST-post-Covid season: what feels like a second phase of returning to “normal.” We’re not doing things for the first time again anymore, but we’re still getting used to life after those years of different existence, still looking back to see what was lost and gained during that time, still re-learning some of what we’d forgotten, still growing into our new selves. Some of us are contemplating projects we would like to invest ourselves in, changes to our daily habits to promote healthier living, dreams we’d like to pursue. New possibilities might be springing up that weren’t imaginable a few years ago, and we might be wondering whether now is the moment for those to emerge.
And of course, there are global shifts going on that affect us deeply, no matter where we are in the world, relating to events in Israel and Gaza in the past weeks. Whether or not we are personally connected to the people and places involved in the violence, we are hearing stories, witnessing images, seeing ripple effects, and wondering how we should respond. We’re heartbroken, shaken, horrified, and challenged as we seek the best way forward as individuals and as communities, to build a world where love and mercy, justice and peace can flourish.
So as the seasons change around us and within us, I’ve been considering the word “discernment.” Discernment can come across as a niche word that religious/spiritual people tend to toss around. But what does it actually mean?
A simpler way to put it might be decision-making, but discernment captures more of the nuance of navigating the way forward. The meaning of discernment, according to the Miriam-Webster dictionary, is “the ability to judge well,” “the act of perceiving,” or “being able to grasp or comprehend what is obscure.”
As we experience these shifts on personal, collective, and global levels, how can we cultivate that ability to judge well, to make wise choices, to take the path towards becoming more fully who we are meant to be or towards the right response or action? How can we develop the ability to perceive what is going on around us and within us? How can we gain the ability to grasp or comprehend what may seem cloudy and unclear?
If these are questions you’re interested in exploring in your own life, I wanted to let you know that in November I’m offering a series for Bless My Feet members called “Discernment for the Changing Seasons.” While I will share some thoughts with the free newsletter list, the bulk of this exploration will be done within the paid subscribers portal, and will begin this Friday, the 3rd.
This four-week series will weave together wisdom from the Celtic and Ignatian spiritual traditions, music and the Psalms, resilience skills, and questions for reflection as you discern the changing seasons in your life. Content for reflection will be provided each week, and you can explore it in your own time.
Then, on Saturday the 18th of November, I will hold a space for an hour on Zoom, open to anyone on this list, to gather and share where we are on our journeys, to explore how we might discern our path, and to listen for the invitation into what’s ahead for each of us. If it would be helpful to have some companionship as you explore the changes you’re sensing in your life these days, you would be very welcome to this free online gathering. You can register by clicking the button below.
If you would find it helpful to have some additional content on discernment for weekly reflection this November, you might consider becoming a paying member of Bless My Feet if you’re not already. The content will be available to access at any time after that as well, if this month isn’t the right moment for you. Founding members also receive a free spiritual direction session.
If you’d like to have access to the additional weekly discernment content but don’t have the resources right now, please simply let me know and I’ll put you on the list.
I look forward to discerning our path together in the coming weeks.
Check out my new website at www.kiranyoung.wimberly.com
Book a Spiritual Direction appointment on my calendar here
Follow my daily walks on Instagram @blessmyfeetkyw
Book your place on the April 2024 Resilient Spirit Pilgrimage here
Listen to my Psalms for the Spirit podcast conversation with Pádraig Ó Tuama here
Hear the audio of the service that was re-aired on RTE Irish National Television last Sunday, entitled “Psalms for Lament and Hope: A Service of Music and Reflection” here
Blessing for Our Journey
May the God of the path
bless us on our path,
wherever it may take us.
And may we be companions on the road
for one another
as we look for the clear way
as we listen for the hopeful invitation
into that beautiful future
in which we honor
the wellbeing of all
in which we become
more fully
who we are created to be
together.
Amen