I'd Say Yes, God, If I Knew What You Wanted: Spiritual Discernment

A.J. Pell is rector of Christ Church in Hope, B.C., editor of the
Canadian Evangelical Review, and an instructor of Liturgy, Anglican
Studies Programme at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Written for those with no ties to any established religious tradition,
this manual on spiritual discernment draws on a wide variety of sources,
including Wiccan, Buddhist, Aboriginal, Christian, and Baha’i. The
author uses personal stories and stories from various faith traditions
to develop two lines of approach to spiritual discernment. She begins by
examining 26 “concepts” such as grace, free will, obedience,
patience, trust, and gratitude. She then turns her attention to 18
“methods,” which include prayer, scripture, worship, dreams,
retreats, and angels.

The concepts and methods Reeves introduces are not developed to any
degree. Through it all she tries to offend no one by using a variety of
names and titles for the supernatural. Two of her own preferences, Holy
Mystery and Source of Being, seem chosen to depersonalize the divine and
take away the possibility of any sense of close relationship. And that
mirrors what Reeves has done to spiritual discernment; she’s made it
so homogenized that it feels rootless.