Discernment

Posted by Linda@heartponderings.com Posted on July 4, 2024 9 Comments on Discernment
Posted in Democracy, Making a Difference, Spirituality, Wisdom Tagged , , , , , ,

Recently I heard Discernment used while a news commentator and their guest speaker noted that many people may not know the meaning.

Oxford Language Dictionary: (Similar = Enlightenment / Sensitivity / Insight)

  1. The ability to judge/discriminate/perceive well.
  2. (in a Christian context) Perception in the absence of judgment with a view to obtaining spiritual guidance and understanding

Mirriam-Webster: (Synonyms = Perception / Wisdom)

  1. The quality/skill of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure
  2. An act of perceiving something

A Needed Quality/Skill Today

 As I witnessed the fallout following the Biden-Trump debate last week, I couldn’t help but notice how much discernment, this quality and skill, is needed in our world today. News anchors and political commentators were in a panic. They were sure about the action Biden needed to take.

Two historians, one specializing in fascism, autocrats, and authoritarianism gave a more balanced perspective … one, in my opinion, Biden campaign strategists need to be heeding. I’ve done everything I can to get this message to them.

A Wider, More Balanced Perspective

In her June 27 “Letters from an American” post, Heather Cox Richardson named the authoritarian technique DJT used in the debate, which probably comes naturally to him, called the Gish Gallop … “a rhetorical technique in which someone throws out a fast string of lies, non-sequiturs, and specious arguments, so many that it is impossible to fact-check or rebut them in the amount of time it took to say them. Trying to figure out how to respond makes the opponent look confused, because they don’t know where to start grappling with the flood that has just hit them. It is a form of gaslighting, and it is especially effective on someone with a stutter, as Biden has …”

 

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, author of Strong Men, is an American historian specializing in fascism and authoritarian leaders. She appeared on Nicolle Wallace’s MSNBC show on June 28 following David Jolly and Tim Miller, political commentators who focused entirely on Biden’s age and his debate performance. Ben-Ghiat  pointed out that the Biden campaign is using normal strategies during abnormal times. She said we need a paradigm shift, pointing out that mistakes were made in planning the debate. No matter who was “debating,” they would not have been able to “debate” with an authoritarian. Authoritarian’s goals are to indoctrinate, not educate.

Spiritual Guidance > Wisdom

I found the dictionary references to spiritual guidance and wisdom interesting. I write this post on July 4, 2024 … Independence Day. As I look at recent events in our country, it seems we need more than ever the spiritual guidance and wisdom that convinced a few men in 1776 that “We the People” could govern ourselves. Today, 248 years later, this bold experiment appears to be in peril.

Could that be because we have strayed from listening to the spiritual guidance that leads to wisdom?

It seems to me that those of us living in abnormal times in the United States and for that matter, all inhabitants of planet earth, are more in need of spiritual guidance and wisdom than ever.

And I will attempt to offer some discernment in that arena in my next post.

Feel free to share any wisdom you have to offer.

Author: Linda@heartponderings.com

9 thoughts on “Discernment”

  1. John Vervaeke says we live in a time when we have lost meaning. I love what you are saying. Good luck with getting that view through to the people who have the power to influence the next step!!!

    1. Thank you, Diana, for pointing us to John Vervaeke’s wisdom. For those of us who do search for meaning, it is often illusive. I still think it’s worth the effort. I haven’t made much progress getting the historian’s wisdom to the people with power, but I’ve tried every avenue I can think of. I heard from another reader in a private email and she has joined the effort. For the sake of our democracy, I hope we can get through and make a difference.

  2. Discernment and spiritual guidance – we sure could use more of that during this presidential campaign. I do not hang out in the fray of our current political discourse but am well aware of what is happening. Today’s environment is difficult because we do not have agreed upon conceptions of what is a fact, what is moral or immoral, right, wrong etc. Discernment is relative to the individual who is discerning. Spiritual guidance is also very subjective but it’s what I lean into.

    I say “today’s environment” but I suspect the polarity and confusion that we are experiencing has been experienced by many, many ancestors before us. It seems innate to the human condition and calls in the beautiful hope of evolution.

    I will look forward to your wise discernment and spiritual guidance throughout this election cycle (if you are willing to provide it!). With your care and concern for humanity and democracy, your voice, Linda, is the one I want to listen to!

    1. Thank you, Jen, for your confidence in my voice. I am certainly not politically savvy. Because of my contemplative bent, I see the dearth of healthy spiritual discernment in a system that has gone awry. I do my best to grow into a higher perspective than I see most of our politicians operating out of and to discern what action I’m being called to take. I still have a ways to grow. I know more than I embody, so I offer what wisdom I have gained through my writing … where I am much more articulate than in my speaking … and hope it helps in some way.

  3. Thank you Linda for taking the time and focus to organize and share your thoughts now during another level of alarm that the lords of chaos are determined to maximize fear and disorientation. If the media and the conservative party (GOP as it is now) intends to destabilize and keep anything productive from happening For the People, it allows the lawmakers to stay focused on their agenda of control of people’s lives now and in the future. So, my words of wisdom are to Look At the Record of what has been accomplished in Biden-Harris governance compared to the nearly nothing that was accomplished in Trump’s reign of terror for 4 years-no, make that 8 or 9 years, as he continues.. Regardless of Biden’s age, he is very capable, deeply humanitarian, and ethical as is possible in these warring times. He isn’t perfect. He has surrounded himself with very capable people that believe in our Constitution and the Rule of Law. We are profoundly better off now-except the long term changes Biden is implementing will take years to show up as the productivity actually makes the necessary changes. I have posters that list the major accomplishments of just 3.5 years of Biden’s term of office. He accomplished this with his team, and with his skillful ability to “work across the aisle’ and respect other’s opinions if they have been vetted for being truth based. If you want, I can offer a list of these accomplishments. As far as his health goes, no one can predict the future for any of us as far as when illness will strike, or even death.. Biden may well outlive Trump and cognitively be higher functioning the rest of his life than Trump is now. I say we support Biden as fervently as he has supported us. Yes, he could have bowed out last year and announced a single term for himself. Kamala Harris would have gone by the wayside if he had and perhaps the Black Vote would have gone with it. Our best bet is to stay with him and let it work itself out. There are contingency plans already made, you can be sure of that!!

    1. Thank you, Teresa, for your impassioned response and for posting the accomplishments of the Biden-Harris Administration. I hear your concern and share it.

      As I practice discernment, I attempt to see something deeper or higher at work behind the chaos. In the sentiments of a dear friend, I am attempting to stay stable while the ground underneath me shakes.

      I’ve done what I could to influence the Biden campaign to listen to the historians speaking to authoritarian strategies and stop saying, “It was a bad night.” It was far more than that and it is my hope his strategists will not resort to same-old, same-old while campaigning against an authoritarian. I think that is important for whoever might be at the top of the democratic ticket.

  5. Thanks Linda for this timely post. Excellent points all around. We live in a new world and have to break out of old ways of thinking.

    1. Hi Ani,

      I certainly agree, we need our leaders to access a new way of thinking … thinking laced with wisdom. I’m not seeing that in most of our politicians nor in the media. Very disturbing.

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