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Summary: discernment--key to the spiritual life
Review: David Lonsdale is a longtime veteran of Ignatian spirituality, having been involved for 40 years in the teaching and formation of adults in this consummate tradition. With the wisdom of years, Lonsdale captures in this introduction the essence of Ignatian spirituality, especially according to the more accurate understanding obtained in the light of 1960's scholarship. According to this renewed understanding, discernment of spirits occupies a central place in Ignatian spirituality--indeed, argues Lonsdale, in Christian spirituality itself. "It is not always recognized that discernment lies at the heart of Christian spirituality," he says (p. 89).In order to define "discernment," there is no better authority to cite than Lonsdale himself. He writes: ...Discernment of spirits in everyday life involves us in a process of sifting our daily experiences by noting and reflecting regularly on our affective responses to God and to life and its events. It means noting, for example, situations and events in which we experience joy or sorrow, peace or turmoil, attractions or revulsions, an opening out to others or a narrowing in on ourselves, a sense of God's presence or absence, creativity or destructiveness. The purpose of observing and reflecting on these patterns of responses is that they deepen our sense of ourselves and they can show us where, for each of us, our Christian path lies, where the Spirit of God is leading (p. 95). Discernment thus becomes the touchstone of sanctification and locates the basis for moral action in the intimate communication between the Holy Spirit and the soul. Hence, the allusion to Jesus' words in the book title, "Eyes to See, Ears to Hear." The motif of discernment allows us to understand in terms of a unifying theme the various aspects of Ignatian spirituality discussed in the book. For example, when Lonsdale examines Ignatius' life in the opening chapter, "Images of Ignatius," we are made to understand that Ignatius travelled an atypical path in his spiritual life. Ignatius pursued his quest for holiness outside the structures of the traditional religious orders. Consequently, it was almost inevitable that he should develop a spirituality of discernment in order to map with some assurance his path to God. In successive chapters, Lonsdale expounds Ignatian spirituality in a pattern of enlarging meaning. He begins by delineating the image of Jesus and of the Trinity in Ignatius' soul. He describes the characteristic features of Ignatian prayer--dispelling traditional misunderstandings--and then clarifies the genuine meaning of the Spiritual Exercises as well as the distinctive practice of Ignatian spiritual direction. He examines Ignatian spirituality embodied in the Jesuits and contextualized in the institutional Church. He underscores the special congruence between Ignatian spirituality and the condition of lay Christians, which is marked by autonomy. Finally, he delves into current issues in Ignatian spirituality, such as rigidity, adaptation, and inculturation, thereby casting new light on these issues in relation to Christian spirituality in general. Some insights are especially helpful in the area of spirituality. He identifies the true purpose of spiritual direction as well as the potential for its abuse: ...The term 'spiritual direction' often has unhappy and off-putting associations in many people's minds. It can evoke images, for example, of an authoritarian priest-confessor clandestinely telling penitents what to do and demanding more or less unqualified obedience....These and other associations are, to say the least, distasteful to people who believe in personal freedom, open discussion, consensus, and democracy and who reject authoritarianism and exploitation in any form. In the recent revival of Ignatian spiritual direction it has had to be made clear that the director does not have an authoritarian or any kind of manipulative role; it is not the director's function to hold the directee in a relationship of dependency or to persuade the directee into a particular course of action, much less to impose his or her own convictions or 'way' on another person. The director is there to facilitate growth through discernment (p. 142). He defines the reality of personal vocation in terms of discernment: ...It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that this process of finding and being faithful to one's own personal path of discipleship within the Christian community is simply a matter of once-for-all decision from which the rest flows as it were automatically....More commonly the process of following out a personal calling has a cyclic rather than a linear shape. It is a question of constantly rediscovering God's love in the different circumstances of life, and constantly re-expressing our responses to that in the concrete choices we make (p. 150). He expresses the newfound understanding of obedience in the Ignatian tradition: ...For Ignatius, in order to be effective, the collaborative relationship of authority on the one hand and obedience on the other presupposes on both sides a willingness to work together in discernment. It is not a matter of one person in authority telling another what to do without reference to that person's gifts and inclinations, and demanding unquestioning 'blind obedience' (p. 167). He acknowledges the inherent limitations of foundational charism and fingers the dangers arising from an uncritical approach: ...One of the reviewers of the first edition of this book pointed out that it was not critical of Ignatius nor of the spirituality that derives from him. It is a point well made. I wrote the book with some enthusiasm for Ignatian spirituality and with an attitude of generosity towards Ignatius and his life and writings. I was disposed to place a good construction on his words and actions and on the founding events and texts and to interpret them in a favourable and helpful light. The reviewer's remark, however, does highlight a very important issue: there are dangers for devotees of a particular tradition of spirituality in endorsing it, if their enthusiasm is unreflective or insufficiently critical (pp. 206-207). Thus Lonsdale describes a path to God in which truth--the truth of a life lived in discernment--is consistent with Christian spirituality.
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