Balance

June 25, 2008 by
Filed under: Religion 

One of the first rules that doctors are taught is “First, Do no harm.”  In tension is the fact that a doctor is clearly expected to do something to help the patient – watching them die is not usually an option.

There is a school of thought that teaches people to make a list of Pros and Cons for a major decision.  You list the Pros in one column and the Cons in another.  If you have more (or more important) Pros you do X.  If you have more Cons, don’t do X.

My wife and other family members have a similar principle for participating in voluntary activities – do you get more good out of it than the annoyances that it causes?

I find myself wondering how this idea – more good than bad – plays out when it comes to God’s call to each of us.  Does God call us to do things that will end up being more painful than enjoyable in the end, but which we should do anyway?

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When you are deciding to take on a new role in your church, do you use this method of deciding?  Do congregations use it to reexamine the things that they do – especially the things that “we’ve always done this way”?  Does our denomination need to make a list when it comes to the upsides and downsides of changing theology?

Is prayer the way to let God help you make the list?

These are just some random thoughts that hit me today.

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Comments

2 Comments on Balance

  1. Gannet Girl on Thu, 26th Jun 2008 9:12 pm

    2. Mark, here is an article on discernment that I often recommend. I like it in part because it makes use of Ignatian discernment, which most spiritual direction does to some extent or another regardless of how it’s identifed; because it does so in a Protestant (in this case, Lutheran) context; and because it offers an example of discernment using four categories rather than two — both the pros and cons of EACH option. I followed the pattern set forth in this article very closely when I had to make a wrenching decision a couple of years ago, and I ended up with a solid discernment. Maybe it will help you, too.

    http://www.worship.ca/docs/p_32_cc.html

  2. Mark on Fri, 27th Jun 2008 4:37 pm

    3. Thanks!

    I don’t think there’s a particular decision that I’m looking at right now. This just kinda popped into my head during a chat conversation with a minister from the other side of the conservative/liberal divide from me.

    I have a sense of “stay where you are” at the moment. It doesn’t make sense, because in many ways remaining where I am (in a few parts of my life) is a bit more painful than good. Is this from God, or simply laziness/inertia on my part?

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