Discernment: What blocks it?

Discernment:  Today’s first reading of the Liturgy, recounts the story of the Israelites in the desert. Their patience has grown thin from the long journey in the desert and they grumble against God and Moses.  Consequently, they are punished by poisonous serpents. Many died.  In their distress, they come to Moses and acknowledge their sinfulness: complaining about their hardship and exaggerating the harshness of their situation.  “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food and no water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!”  First they complain about having no food and then say that they are disgusted with the food!

To discern God’s presence, goodness and mercy,  to hear God’s voice,  one needs to 1) stop complaining, 2) stop lying by exaggerating one’s situation—how awful it is, how distant God is, how deaf are the ears of God-- and 3) acknowledge one’s sinful behavior.  Complaining, lying, exaggerating and staying mute about our “bad” behaviors and attitudes are poisonous venom that blinds and deafens us to God’s voice of love and mercy, to the God who is leading us through the difficult times, to the God who is directing our lives to the place where our wills and God’s will harmonize.  When we cease grumbling, stop being deceitful, and honestly acknowledge our waywardness, only then, will we be able to discern God’s power at work in “our deserts.”   Only then, will we be set free and brought back into harmony with our God. Only then will we be ready to see rightly and to walk on the path that leads to the Promised Land which God has ready for us.  For now, is that marriage? Is that religious life? Is that the single life?  Later, that is heaven itself!