Often, Discernment comes as a negative and one day, I grabbed it as inspiration for my freedom stick. Images hold invitations to see the same situation with new eyes, offering relief from entangling and frequently misunderstood words.
As I created my freedom stick, I articulated, anew, the prayer practice that has sharpened my insight and offered much freedom in recent years.
The prodding questions:
1) Am I triggered by the discernment? If so, what is unresolved in my own life? Judgmental-ism chimed in, distracting me with another’s faults. I asked her to focus on me or leave.
2) Does the emotive spark give insight into the present or take me back to a worn out storyline, no longer useful to my current narrative? The darker sides of Compassion and Determination appeared, luring me to master an unsettled situation. I responded with, “Maybe in the past, but not now.”
3) Do I feel that I am superior in some way? I quieted Ego by grabbing a stick, pretending it to be a scepter, so she could see the ridiculousness of the mere consideration.
4) Do I need to set boundaries? If so, is it about timing, staying and growing through a situation or grasping Freedom’s hand, now? Martyrdom voiced a few words and I replied, “Sorry, I‘ve become pickier about those things for which I am willing to die.”
You will have your own voices to deal with, but you get the idea, so continuing with the questions:
5) Have I given others involved, needed time and space? Have I prayerfully pictured myself walking in their shoes?
6) In what ways can I move beyond the natural defaults of my personality into the energy of untapped strengths within?
7) Am I able to pray for the other (situation, organization or person) with felt compassion?
Number seven is key in uncovering lingering motives. Writing prayers for the other, encourages praying goodness, in behalf of. In the past, when my prayers were more about the words, I prayed through entire journals.
Through extensive prayer for the other, I not only found freedom for the situation at hand, but also found future like-encounters, less affecting. As I was willing to humble myself and let go, Compassion rose up to meet me, narrowing my need to enter the other’s drama, every single time. If not yet willing, another journal…
Whether it is about the purer discernment or cutting through personal projections, prayerful questioning leads to freedom. Spirit comes with this gift of freedom. I call it Wholeness.