I am in a moment of transition in my job as I step into a full-time director role that I had only done previously. In my interview, when I was asked about responding to a broad range of faith experiences at Gonzaga, part of my consistent response was that while we need to be able to adapt and evolve our approaches, we still need to choose and focus in on our approaches. On my team, we know if we try to do everything and be everything for everybody, we won’t do anything particularly well.

However, I realized as I was engaging in our first session that it is incredibly tempting in my new role to try and do everything all at once. I entered with a named pressing question about my particular context, but as I was reflecting after the session, I realized that the implicit pressing question I was asking myself was something along the lines of “how can I suddenly develop superpowers and figure out how to do it all and transform everything?”

The Ignatian practice of discernment invites me to think about the next right thing and only the next right thing. It is a practice of paying attention to my interior life and the working of God within me and within my context. I mentioned this in my breakout group – intellectually, it’s easy for me to think about electing the next right thing. In practice, especially in this moment, I realized I’m not really living it out. I’m letting chaos and the pressure of achievement reign, which feels overwhelming most of the time. I know from experience that when I can get quiet and attend to the Holy Spirit that I can generally engage well in the practice of discernment.

Ultimately, this realization as I spoke to my group and after the session in my personal reflection refined my pressing question. The most pressing question for me right now is this: what is the next right thing God is calling me to do in my sphere of influence?