Are there alternatives to Ignatian Discernment?

[the_joey_o]

Hi,
My family has a big decision coming up, and I was wondering if there were any prayers that could help us make the decision. We’re in a situation where we have multiple good choices, and choosing one would set us down a path and eliminate the other choices. Our hope is to utilize either the Ignatian Discernment process or something similar to it to help us make our decision in accordance with the desires that God has for our family. I’m a bit partial to Dominican spiritually, and i want to know: is there an equivalent practice to the Ignatian discernment process in the Dominican tradition or any other traditions?

Note: I am not referring to vocational discernment. Rather, I’m inquiring about personal discernment for following the will of God in the context of lay life.

 

[TheLittleLady]

Thing is, God leaves much up to us.

Which thing will help you get to heaven? That is the thing you chose.

If all of the options are equal on the heaven goal, then, weigh pros and cons and decide

 

[the_joey_o]

Yes. I know I’m in a situation where all the choices we are considering are good. I think the thing I’m struggling with is how do you know if God is calling you to one of the things and not the other? I understand he might well be leaving the choice simply up to us. However, if he were to have a preferred path for us, how would we know it?

 

[HeDa]

If there are two or more equally good options, then is it possible that God wants you to choose? Life is not always black or white, good or bad, happy or sad. Sometimes there are several good options. God is not the puppeteer holding the strings connected to your body parts. He gave us both faith and reason and expects us to make use of them.

An example is a person thinking of both nursing and teaching as a profession. He/she finds both equally good and has a hard time choosing. The person would blossom in either of the professions and finally settles to start training as a nurse. 20 years down the road he/she could be teaching future nurses.

The Ignatian discernment process seems to be pretty unique. I haven’t heard of any other method within the Catholic Church.

 

[TheLittleLady]

God really does leave it up to us.

There is a deep ingrained idea that God is a mico manager, but, he is more of a “free range parent”. There is the plan of salvation, how each of us gets to heaven, and how we help others get there.

After that, there is vocational discernment, does God want me to marry or to the religious life?

The other decisions really are in our hands, we weight them against those two things.

Will this new job take me far from my spouse for long periods and possibly harm my marriage? Then that is something to weigh.

Will moving to this city put our family into a place where we will be far from our family and support system where we might sink into despair? That is something to weigh because it could impact both our vocation and our salvation.

Will this relocation allow my spouse and I to have more income so we can give more support to our Church and to worthy causes?

Look at all of the choices through the lens of salvation and vocation.

 

[Divine3]

Are there alternatives to Ignatian Discernment? If I may, I will need to discern that question.