Trust Your Feelings: Learning How to Make Choices with Ignatius of Loyola

This book is about discernment. To discern means to look for clues in your innermost experience in order to know what to do or what not to do. More precisely, discernment means paying attention to what is happening in the very depths of your heart. Christians believe that a careful reading of our deepest emotions can reveal what God is inviting us to do. The language that God speaks today is that of human experience.

The book opens with a general overview about the practice of discernment and examines the role of our heart, our intelligence and our will. It then explains how discernment can be practiced in daily life, how discernment can help in making choices, and in knowing whether something is good or bad. Then ten different emotionally charged situations are explored. Finally, the book addresses the question of whether or not discernment is reserved for Christians, and also briefly discusses discernment in a community setting. The book concludes with a reflection on discernment as a way of life.