Discernment of Spirits Part 3

This is another exercise I did for the Discernment of Spirits class, this time applying Ignatius' Rules for Discernment to a time when I experienced the presence of God, which Ignatius calls consolation. While it mightn't all make sense if you haven't studied all the rules, it might give a sense of how we can firstly use the rules to interpret our experience, and then to make good decisions. 

"I woke up at 6am on my first day at Creighton this year after a broken night’s sleep from jetlag. I decided not to stay in bed and to try for more sleep, but to get up and to start the day in prayer. I sat down facing the window, and even before I my prayer began I experienced a rush of joy and excitement, and my imagination opened up with the realisation that this was the place where I would sit for prayer every day for the next eight weeks. I entered into prayer joyfully and renewed my commitment to start each day with an hour of prayer, knowing that my time at Creighton will be an important time of refreshment to prepare me for whatever challenges I may have when I return home to Australia. 

 

This was an experience of consolation without any proportionate cause, in which “The Creator [did] enter the soul…. and cause a motion in it which draws the whole person into love of His Divine Majesty” (Exercises 330). I identify this as consolation in the way which Ignatius describes in the Second Week for “It is characteristic of God….to give genuine happiness and spiritual joy” (Exercises 329). This was certainly a gift from God, for despite the novelty of waking up in a new city, the strength of the feeling of joy was disproportionate, especially factoring in the tiredness from lack of sleep. The thought of the eight weeks ahead came secondary to the rush of joy and excitement (Exercises 336) leading me to conclude with Ignatius that “there is no deception in it, for it comes only from God our Lord” (Exercises 336).

I made no resistance to this stirring in my heart, accepting this consolation of joy which felt “light and sweet, like a drop of water going into a sponge” (Exercises 335). I welcomed it gratefully as I have many times before, savouring the warmth which God brought about in my heart. I moved into my customary prayer time. Ignatius cautions those who receive such undeserved favour from God to be careful not to make rashly enthusiastic decisions in the time immediately after the consolation with the assumption that if God has given the consolation, then all else that follows must also be from God. Indeed this can be a time when we may act “through the influence of either a good or an evil spirit” (Exercises 336). For me there was no new undertaking following the consolation, rather, this experience simply affirmed and energised my existing commitment to prayer, consonant with Ignatius’ description of consolation in the First Week as an “increase in hope, faith, charity and interior joy which calls and attracts one toward heavenly things” (Exercises 316)."