When reading The Ladder of Divine Ascent, we begin to see that discernment is quite different from what we imagine. It is not simply the use of our reason and judgment to look at the realities around us, to dissect them, and so understand them. Discernment, as described by the fathers, is rooted in the virtue of humility. It is only when we live in He who is Truth that we come to understand the truth about ourselves, the world, and the kingdom.
St. John in particular gives us a multiple examples of how discernment reveals to us the specific qualities of vices, how they manifest themselves and how they are to be remedied. It is curious that we often use our intellectual abilities to avoid reality or to create a certain perception of reality in our minds. It is only humility that allows us to be vulnerable; to expose the deepest part of ourselves to the light of truth. It is this vulnerability and our trust in God and his love that allows us not only to see the truth but to experience the light of it as a healing balm.
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Text of chat during the group:
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Fifteen
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Fourteen Part II
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Thirteen Part III and Letter Fourteen Part I
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Thirteen Part II
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Twelve Part III and Letter 13 Part I
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Twelve Part II
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Twelve Part I
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Seventy-one Part V and Homily Seventy-two Part I
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Seventy-one Part IV
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Seventy-one Part III
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Seventy-one Part II
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Seventy Part II and Homily Seventy-one Part I
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Sixty-nine Part II and Homily Seventy Part I
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Sixty-eight Part III and Homily Sixty-nine Part I
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Sixty-eight Part II
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Sixty-seven Part II and Homily Sixty-eight Part I
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Sixty-seven Part I
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Sixty-six Part IV
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Sixty-six Part III
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Sixty-six Part II
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