by Elizabeth Liebert
WJK, Louisville, Ky. 198 pages
In her acclaimed first book on the practice of discernment, Elizabeth Liebert wrote, “How are we to live our lives thoughtfully and faithfully in the midst of all the forces, options, and decisions that characterize modern life? Discernment, the Christian practice of seeking God’s call in the midst of the decisions that mark one’s life, may very ell be the single most important Christian spiritual practice for dealing with this contemporary dilemma.”
This book is the natural sequel, focusing attention on the social dimension of discernment as practiced in institutions, organizations and groups. Liebert guides her readers into an engagement with the Social Discernment Cycle as the principle method for discovering a path forward. She writes, “The Social Discernment Cycle is designed to address large and small systems, to help us take concrete steps in the face of systemic complexity … . The only way we can affect the future is to do the right thing in the present. Social discernment helps us discern what the “right thing” might be, and, together, take the first step.”
Remarkably, she blends this social method of discernment with the Pastoral Cycle [social analysis-theological reflection-pastoral-planning-awareness] that helps people engage in deep systemic analysis. Liebert adds a word of encouragement that discernment is essentially listening for God in the process of finding one’s path through a thicket of obstacles. However that process turns out, the reward is listening for and discovering God who is present in even in the thicket.
