Enough Light to See, Enough Darkness to Doubt: The Discernment of Spirits

From the very dawn of creation, our need to carefully discern spirits has been clear.  With all the generations of saints who have diligently put themselves to this practice, you might think we would have it down to a science.  But discernment of spirits is not a science; it is a battle. 

In this battle, there is no rhyme or reason to “the tactics of the devil” (Eph. 6:11).  Flesh and blood are not able to calculate or predict the principalities and powers with whom we struggle against.  Five centuries before the birth of Christ, the Chinese emperor Sun Tzu aptly observed how “all warfare is based on deception.”  This is particularly true in our battle with the enemy Jesus identified as the “father of lies” (Jn. 8:44).  In this struggle, a wise spiritual director of mine, Father Paul Murray, O.P., likened our discernment of spirits to a journey at dusk.  For there is always enough light to see and enough darkness to doubt. 

There will always be enough light to see.  God does not abandon us in this struggle.  “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it” (Jn. 1:5).  Even so, there will also be enough darkness to doubt.  We will all go “astray like sheep, each following his own way” (Is. 53:6).  No one will get the discernment of spirits right all the time.  Sun Tzu was wise to guide his warriors to an awareness of how warfare is not about winning every battle:

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.  If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer defeat.  If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

In a very similar manner, St. Teresa of Avila encourages her sisters in The Interior Castle to “not become discouraged by falls … For even from such falls, God will draw out good.”  With every battle we hope to grow in our knowledge of the Spirit of God, the spirit of the enemy, the spirit of the world, and the spirit of ourself.  Whether we are in the first dwelling of The Interior Castle or the seventh, it is all about the basics of growing in our knowledge of these spirits.

I find it relevant to reflect how in baseball the average hitting percentage among professional players is around .250.  That means that among the best baseball players in the world, they get a hit only one time out of every four at bats.  As the saying goes, no one bats 1.000. 

Reggie Jackson is known as “Mr. October” for his clutch hitting in the post season.  His expertise as a hitter helped lead the Oakland Athletics to three consecutive World Series titles from 1972 to 1974 and the New York Yankee to back-to-back titles in 1977 and 1978. He was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame on his first ballot in 1993. 

His career batting average was .262.  Of all the batters in the history of baseball, Reggie struck out more than anyone else: 2,597 times.  Reggie did not fear striking out. In striking out, he may have learned something that helped him to hit one of his 563 career home runs.  

A good hitter need not fear the result of a hundred at bats if they learn something about the pitcher they are up against and their own tendencies as a batter.  A pitcher has all kinds of ways to deceive the batter on how the ball is being thrown.  They can make it appear as if the ball is coming in straight when it is going to curve, and as if it is going to curve when it is coming in straight.  They can deceive the batter into sensing that the ball is going to move very fast when it is coming in slow and seem slow when it is coming in fast. 

A good hitter is always trying to learn something about the pitcher they are facing and after every game they will return to the batting cage for hours to work on what they learned about themselves while at bat.  They will never tire of going back to the basics of hitting off the tee they initially learned on to grow in awareness of their rhythm, timing, consistency, and sweet spot.    

The basic information of any subject is typically referred to as the ABC’s.  In discernment of spirits, I have come to appreciate how it is The Four A’s.

The first A is the Advocate.  Advocate is the name given by Jesus for “the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name” (Jn. 14:26).  Advocate comes from two Latin words: ad—for, and vocare—voice.  The Advocate is on our side.  The Advocate will be with us always (v.16) and teach us everything (v.26).  The Advocate ensures that we will always have enough light to see.  

The second A is the Accuser.  The Book of Revelation describes the spirit of evil as accusing us day and night (Rev. 12:10).  For all the times I have been reminded of this truth and taught this truth to others, there remains enough darkness to doubt.  I can still somehow be deceived into thinking that God is accusing me, condemning me.  But God is not the Accuser, God is the Advocate!  He is on my side.  God has come to save me, not condemn me!

The third A is the Anesthesia and Amnesia of the spirit of the world.  Anesthesia in the sense that the spirit of the world tries to numb us towards the reality that our “homeland is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20) by occupying our minds with earthly things (v.19).  It is Amnesia in its tactic to makes us forget who we are, to fail to “see what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called children of God” (1 Jn. 3:2). 

The fourth A may need a brief background explanation: St. Francis of Assisi would refer to his body as “Brother Ass,” connecting how the body, or the “spirit of the self,” can be as stubborn on doing its own will as a donkey. 

In the midst of our many battles, it is critical to return to the basics of these Four A’s.  What spirit am I listening to?  If the Accuser is revealing my sin and weakness, I must reject the accusation and condemnation.  When the Advocate sheds light on an area of sin, I ought to consent to the conviction and repent, seeing that the intention is to set me free of that sin.  When the spirit of the world is luring me into thinking or acting in a way that is incongruent with my homeland journey, or make me forget for even a moment that I am a child of God, I must arouse myself from the stupor of this Anesthesia and Amnesia.  When I am being just plain stubborn, resisting the “will of the one who sent me” (John 5:30), the Ass needs to be disciplined—disciplined gently, for we often respond best to love. 

The desert fathers advise, “it is not possible for a man to be recalled from his purpose through harshness, because one demon does not drive out another.”  At the same time, the Ass does need to be disciplined, to “stay sober and alert.  Your opponent the devil is prowling like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Pt. 3:8).

A good working example of how the goal in this battle of discerning spirits is truly about growing in a gentle way in our knowledge of spirits is given to us from the anonymous monk who wrote The Hermitage Within.  He observes how “the devil will lose a match if, instead of panicking, you calmly agree that you are only human, not an angel, and that you are going to God on foot and not on seraph’s wings.”  Just as the devil may be relishing in a perceived victory, a gentle growth in such self-knowledge will quickly bring him defeat. 

This is true at the beginning of our spiritual journey, and it is true at the height of our spiritual journey.  At the height of St. Catherine of Siena’s earthly journey, Our Lord Himself lovingly instructed her: “Do you know, daughter, who you are and who I am?  If you know these two things, you will be blessed.  You are she who is not, whereas I am He who is.  Have this knowledge in your soul, and the enemy will never deceive you.”

The battle of discernment of spirits is on!  Pope Benedict recognized how the “peace of Christ is the result of a constant battle against evil.”  Let us go forward in a deeper appreciation of how we need not fear a hundred battles if each one leads to some growth in our knowledge of these four spirits.  In this journey of dusk, there will always be enough light to see and enough darkness to doubt.

Editor’s Note: Fr. Wayne Sattler’s book, And You Will Find Rest: What God Does in Prayer, is available from Sophia Institute Press.

Photo by Mariam Soliman on Unsplash