Discernment and the Role of Emotions

While there has often been a dismissal of the role of emotions in religious experience among evangelicals, with claims that they are insignificant or even dangerous (and sometimes for good reason), the truth is that emotions do play an important part of both religious experience in general and in spiritual discernment specifically, and I would like to explore their role briefly in this post.[1]

As Gordon Smith says, we are not just thinking beings but “thinking, feeling, and acting beings” whose very core is found in our affections – emotions which are the “deep, inner dispositions or orientations of the heart.”[2]  These affections (such as fear, hatred, sorrow, desire, hope, love, joy, compassion, etc.) are more than mere fleeting feelings.  They are indications of what is happening to us spiritually and determinants of what our values, goals, and ultimate actions are going to be.[3]  Thus it is very important that we understand and respond to our emotions properly.  We must ask, “How is God acting through these emotions to communicate with us?” 

One way to understand the role of emotions in spiritual discernment is to follow in the footsteps of the 16th century Spanish reformer and founder of the Order of the Jesuits, Ignatius of Loyola.  After careful observation of the emotional movements in his own spirit during a period of convalescence and beyond, he came to see that God is personally involved in one’s heart through interior movements called desolations and consolations.  Loyola came to see that one must act differently when experiencing these different interior movements, especially when making decisions.[4]

According to Loyola, desolations are experiences of anger, fear, mourning, listlessness, discouragement, and other negative emotions resulting in a “darkness of soul, [and a] turmoil of spirit.”[5]  Desolations which move us away from God and diminish our life of faith, hope, and charity, may arise as a response to the real injustices and brokenness of our world or they may be the result of our self-indulgent, misguided spirits.[6]  If the latter is true, God will use these experiences to purify deep areas of un-freedom or disordered attachments in ourselves (whether that is perfectionism, an excessive desire for wealth, praise, or power, or some other idolatrous attachment).[7]

When we experience such desolations, we should not make any new decisions because we cannot trust ourselves to act rightfully or truthfully (even when the desolation has arisen from a legitimate response to our broken world).[8]   Rather, we must seek out the causes of our desolation as well as ways to move us into consolations.  (For example, if we are feeling desolation because we have neglected our spiritual disciplines, then we must begin to practice these disciplines again.)[9]  Most importantly, we must be patient, allowing God to transform us through this situation in His timing and simply continuing in a previous decision made in a period of consolation or waiting until a new period of consolation arises.[10

]In contrast to desolations, consolations are experiences of joy and peace that may come in either times of happiness or sadness.  True consolations arise as we respond to Christ’s rightful rule of this world.[11]  They are in line with the values that Scriptures sets before us, and they are gifts that God freely offers us to build up our life of faith, hope, and charity and lead to greater union with God.[12]  Only in periods of true consolation can we make truly wise decisions because only then are we living from a posture of faith and trust in God and are thus in tune with the true inner promptings of the Holy Spirit.[13]

Unfortunately, not all consolations are from God.  If we are about to make a decision, and one particular option gives us a sense of joy and peace, we must test this consolation.  We must clarify our motives, honestly asking from where this joy and peace comes.  Is this true consolation, arising from the Holy Spirit or false consolation, arising  from a desire for wealth, pleasure, honor, recognition, power, or influence or from some other orientation of our hearts that is not in line with God’s will?  One way to determine this is to have others ask us questions about our possible options and to have the humility to allow others to challenge our proposed way forward if they sense it is not of the Holy Spirit’s prompting.[14]  While it is also possible at times that others may not be in tune with the Holy Spirit, themselves, still it is good to listen, reevaluate, and to continue to dialogue.  It is generally dangerous to proceed with a decision when many others find objections to it.[15]

At the end of the day, we must all make decisions.  Even when we decide not to decide, we are making decisions.  Thus, we must be wise, listening to the counsel of the Holy Spirit as He speaks through Holy Scripture and through the emotional contours of our heart.  We must be patient and discerning, being cognizant of both what our hearts and minds are telling us but also cautious of our own ability for self-deception.  God desires that we know His will, and we can be confident that if we are truly seeking Him, He will gradually purify our affections and through our experiences of consolations and desolations, open the way for us to hear His voice.

[1] Smith, pp. 56-58.

[2]Ibid., pp. 49, 57.

[3]Ibid., pp. 58-59.

[4]Conroy, pp. 9-10.

[5]Ibid., pp. 25.

[6]Smith, pp. 139; Jules Toner  S.J.  “Discernment in the Spiritual Exercises,” A New Introduction to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.  Edited by John E.Dister, (Collegeville:  A Michael Glazier Book), pp. 66.

[7]Conroy, pp. 23.

[8]Smith, pp. 139.[

9]Ibid., pp. 144.

[10]Ibid., pp. 139.

[11]Ibid.[

12]Conroy, pp. 35, 40.

[13]Smith, pp. 139.

[14]Ibid., pp. 147, 152.

[15]Ibid., pp. 153.Conroy, Maureen.  The Discerning Heart:  Discovering a Personal God, (Chicago: Loyola University Press).Smith, Gordon.  The Voice of Jesus:  Discernment, Prayer and the Witness of the Holy Spirit, (Downers Grove:  Intervarsity Press, 2003).Smith, Gordon.  “Emotions and Spiritual Discernment” lecture, Regent College, 2000.Toner  S.J., Jules.  “Discernment in the Spiritual Exercises,” A New Introduction to the       Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.  Edited by John E.Dister, (Collegeville:  A Michael Glazier Book).