On Discernment

Someone told me yesterday that i have exercised discernment where the project that i was involved in for the past year was concerned.

I think it is a compliment ;-)

It's funny how certain words or themes keep recurring. In this case, it is discernment. When the kids were young, I read up on all the parenting books I can get hold of and was eager to put into practice (and get the significant other to do likewise) some of the parenting advice I came across. This is what I wrote in an article for the church magazine in 2002:

"Alas, my enthusiasm was not reciprocated. In fact, Fai often challenged the validity of the advice given by the parenting "experts". In one of our many exchanges, I suddenly realised that I should be seeking God's counsel instead of men's. Fai has taught me a precious lesson on discernment and since then, I have learnt to look for answers in the Bible first and to trust God with our parenting concerns."

A little later on after I wrote that, Harry Potter books burst into the scene. I enjoyed the books very much, so much so that a Christian friend (not from my church) emailed me all kinds of Christian articles to warn me of the darkness of the Harry Potter books. I discussed this with my significant other who also enjoys the books and concluded that the worries were unfounded. Today, Ethan reads them (he has just finished the 5th book) and I've no qualms about it. I want to think I've exercised discernment in this case. (The books are quite juvenile really).

Not long, a few weeks back, I stumbled upon Paulo Coelho's books at the bookstore. If there is one temptation I constantly have to fight, it is the impulse to buy books (and contribute to the clutter in the house). I know he is a famous author and had really wanted to read his acclaimed The Alchemist. I flipped through the pages in the bookstore and initially got the sense that he might be writing from a new age sort of philosophy. I remembered praying to God at that point and asking for discernment (yes, that was the word). In the end I bought a box set of 5 books. The passage that I was led to before I decided goes something like this:

In ancient Rome, a father had 2 sons - one in the military and one was a poet. The father had a dream one night and in it, the angel told him that the words of one of his sons would be learned and repeated throughout the world and for generations to come. The father died shortly and he met that same angel in heaven and requested to see the words of his son which would become famous. He had assumed that his poet son had left that legacy. But no, the angel told the father that his other son became a centurion and he was just and good. One day his servant fell ill and when he heard of a rabbi who was able to cure illness, he rode out for days to seek him. he found the rabbi and told him of his servant's illness. The rabbi said he will go and heal him but the centruion said (and these are the words the angel were referring to):

"Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof. But only speak a word and my servant will be healed."

Christians would have immediately recognised this story of Jesus' encounter with the centurion whose fatih was praised by the Lord. I discerned there and then that if this book contains God's word, I can safely read it. I've read 3 out of the 5 books already. Enjoyed most of them but am constantly vigilant against any philosophical teachings that go against what I believe in. This I think is discernment.