by Thomas E. Clarke, S.J.
Discernment, like faith itself, is a paradoxical journey. If it calls for faithfulness and integrity in seeking the light of truth, it also involves ... the acceptance of a certain darkness, a letting go of purely rational assurances. It is profoundly different from any purely autonomous discovery of truth. When I discern, I do the best I can with the pros and cons of decision, and then surrender myself in trust to the One whom I believe loves me.
In this respect it is helpful to distinguish between a correct decision and a good decision. Decisions are correct when they correspond to the requirements of an objective situation in its ethical and pragmatic requirements. Good decisions, on the other hand, are those which we make, correctly or not, with that awareness and freedom by which we respond obediently to God's inner call as we perceive it at the moment of choice. The light we seek in true discernment is the light to know God in knowing ourselves, in sorting out what is from our God who is Light and what is from the darkness of sin.
From "Discernment Through the Senses," Weavings: A Journal of the Christian Spiritual Life, Vol. X/6 (Nov/Dec 1995, (Nashville, TN: Upper Room Books, 1995), 19.
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