Discernment: Step 8 of the Ignatian method of discerning
any serious decision, or discerning one’s vocation in life, includes a
perspective from one’s deathbed. St.
Ignatius suggests that we imagine ourselves on our deathbed. In other words, if
I were about to die, about to see Jesus face-to-face, how would I feel about the
choice I am contemplating? Would I be pleased with myself or remorseful? If I
would be regretting what I am about to choose, something is askew. Then, what I
am contemplating is not something that I really want to do, whether it is a
day-to-day decision in how I am relating to another, or shutting another out,
or whether it is a State in Life that I am considering. So if, on my deathbed I
would not make the choice I am contemplating, then I need to go back and review
my reasons for making the choice I have just made but not yet carried out.
Source: Discernment of Spirits by Warren Sazama,
SJ, National Religious Vocation Conference, Chicago, IL 60615.
