Praying for guidance: In making decisions

	Word to Life  Sharon K. Perkins

Last week our oldest child left the nest - probably for good. She graduated from college, drove home, swept through her bedroom closets and drawers like a tsunami, loaded her car almost to the roof, and headed for points south to visit friends and begin a new life in another state. It seemed to have happened in the blink of an eye.

My husband, always sentimental where his "baby girl" is concerned, insisted that I record on video the leave-taking, but throughout the footage there is an unmistakable undercurrent of impatient resoluteness beneath the goodbyes.

Her immediate destination was but a precursor to a whole series of new adventures which she was eager to begin, and nothing - not even the poignancy of the moment or her love for her parents - was going to stop her.

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Sunday, July 1, 2007) 1 Kings 19:16b, 19-21 Psalms 16:1-2, 5 Galatians 5:1, 13-18 Luke 9:51-62

Today's first reading and Gospel are about other kinds of leave-taking and the strength of purpose they require for the sake of the reign of God. Whether in Elisha's call to prophetic ministry or Jesus' call to his disciples to follow him, there is an almost wrenching detachment from what lies behind so that the calling can be fully embraced.

What makes detachment so difficult is that the activities and relationships of the past, like plowing the fields or love for one's parents, are themselves noble and good.

I am often struck by the frequency with which Christians are required to choose not simply between clearly delineated good and evil but between two seemingly equal goods. In those moments we can truly go either way, and either way is justifiable.

But Christ's specific call to me requires that I pray for guidance, opt for one over the other, and then forge ahead without absolute clarity, second-guessing, or regrets. It's what the spiritual masters call "discernment," and it's a scary proposition sometimes.

	Reflection question • When have I had to discern between two good options and how did my prayer for guidance and the counsel of other believers help me to proceed with confidence?

That's when the words of the psalmist bring such comfort. When I "set the Lord ever before me," I can "abide with confidence," knowing that my "lot is held fast" even as the Lord counsels his children, holding the destination before them and blessing their stuttering yet resolute attempts to get there.

This column is offered in cooperation with the North Texas Catholic of Fort Worth, Texas.