Discernment

When I was cleaning up my garden the other day I grabbed a handful of what I thought was all plants that I did not want in a particular space.  As I looked at the lot that I had pulled up I recognized a very small onion that had been hiding in the mix.  I was so sad to have pulled this young plant out of the ground.  The premature death for this beneficial friend that I had wanted to mature into something I could consume could have been avoided had I practiced better discernment.

This moment in time made me really consider how closely we need to look at what we think is reality in order to discern and sort through things that we want to nurture and grow and things that we want to eliminate to make space for good growth.

Lately I’ve been confused by a phrase that I seem to be hearing more and more often:  “It’s All Good.”  If it’s all good why am I pulling vine weed from my garden so the strawberries can thrive?  If it’s all good why do I make choices between the different types of feed that are available when I feed my horses?

When I watch my horses graze in the pasture I notice how they discern which plants to eat and which plants to leave.  I’ve even seen them chomp on a bit of loco weed and then spit it out (I spotted it just before the chomp – talk about a long moment in time…).  Horses are incredibly good at discerning what is good for them and what is not.  I’ve never heard a horse look at a pasture and say “It’s all good.”  What I hear is “Thank you for the opportunity to graze.  Now I will go forth and be discerning to keep myself and the herd I’m a member of safe and thriving as we encounter life in the pasture.”  OK, maybe not in those exact words, but it sure is the feel I get from them in their very grounded state.

We are blessed with the ability to discern.  Determining what is pearl and what is plastic takes a commitment to really looking and listening from a grounded place, while not hiding from what you might ‘hear’ or ‘see.’

My garden is much happier now that I’ve cleared out some of the plants that were choking out the ones I want to thrive.   And our horses are all much happier when we really drop into what is the ‘pearl’ among the ‘plastic’ that is offered and discern what is truly best for us and them in all dimensions.

Everytime I hear ‘It’s all good’ I cringe.  I know we are all one on a deep and Spiritual level, but I also know that not ALL is good for me.  I wonder if the trance of ‘It’s all good’ is part of what tends to keep us complacent.  If I am not allowed to discern for fear of being labeled judgmental, I have to accept that ALL is good for me.  Tolerance is good when we discern if tolerance is truly what needs to rule in that moment and time.  Judging is good when we are discerning rather than projecting our own unresolved trauma or low self-esteem upon the other.

If I have to accept all as good, I cannot call a murderer a murderer and judge that act as evil.  If I have to accept all as good I cannot decide that I don’t wish to eat GMO’s because I know them to be unhealthy for me and the planet as a whole.  If I have to accept all as good I cannot discern when I am being manipulated by the media into believing whatever agenda is being fed to us at that time.  If I have to accept all as good I cannot choose to be safe, healthy, and sovereign.

So please, stop and consider before saying ‘It’s all good.’  I’ve discovered that most of the time that phrase is used is when ones boundaries have been offended and the one saying it feels the need to bypass the anger they felt because of that boundary violation.  Our culture teaches us that anger is a bad and wrong emotion, so we have to stuff it and get rid of it and move to a false peace, rather than listening to the message in the anger and safely sharing our need to reestablish that boundary.  When we stuff that anger it is expressed in passive aggressive ways, or not so passive aggressive ways such as the types of violence we see erupting at what are supposed to be peaceful demonstrations, concerts, football games and other places where people are gathered.

Next time you feel the urge to say ‘It’s all good’ consider what you would really rather say.  What is the underlying reason for wanting to have it all be good.  Consider how we could be more authentic in our communication and respect and true tolerance for one another.  Consider the message in the emotion and work with that so that we can truly have a more peaceful culture.  Peace can only be achieved when we tap into our emotional intelligence and honor the gift that God has given us through the emotions we feel.