This paperback is the 20th anniversary edition of a resource that has been used to explore call, discernment, and community by individuals, groups, retreatants, and church leaders. There is a new foreword by Parker Palmer, the Quaker writer and teacher who has written widely on the subject. There are also appendicies updated to meet contemporary concerns.
God calls us to become the best that we were meant to be through everyday events. But we need to listen to how God is speaking to us. The authors define discernment and discuss the conditions that enable us to verify the call of God — trust, listening, prayer, knowledge of Scripture, humility, discipline and perseverance, patience and urgency, and perspective. Some of the impediments to discernment are cultural values, self-interest, desire for security, self-absorption, and a human time frame.
The calling of men and women to ministry is another avenue explored by Suzanne Farnham (founder of Listening Hearts Ministries) and her three co-writers. The last section on community shows how practices from Scripture, Quaker and Ignatian traditions can deepen and enhance the process of discernment.
