Finding clarity

Seeking clearness is the last step in a discernment process. Clarity - that feeling that you know what you stand for, you are sure of your objectives, you have set the best intentions, and you understand your next move - is liberating and empowering.

Most of the time we don't wait for clarity; we act on autopilot, or on other's expectations and assurances, or because the situation is urgent. Waiting for clarity seems selfish or exhausting or just impossible. But being clear in your heart that you are on the right path is a wonderful thing to wait for; it's transformative!

Agenda:

1. Discernment

2. Prepare for clarity

3. A clearness meeting

1. Discernment:

Discernment is the process of making important decisions in your life, such as choosing what values and principles will guide you, what career you will have, and who you will live with. Discernment takes time, attention, creativity, and an open mind. The way to become an expert in discernment is to:

-Develop your practical wisdom: your ability to make judgments and take actions that contribute to a life of excellence. You will collect information, reflect, and weigh all the possibilities.

-Seek a leading of the spirit (God or Inner Guide) with an open mind and heart. You will listen for insight and intuitions - your felt sense, answers to prayers, symbolic or dream messages - and then patiently labor to understand them.

-Seek clearness by inviting thoughtful questioning (not advise) from some people you trust.

 

2. Prepare for clarity:

When you have gathered all the information, weighed all the possibilities, invited a leading of the spirit or Inner Guide, and you think you know what you are being led to do, it's time to test your leading with other people.

Many times, when I have an idea I'm mulling over, I will talk casually about it with my friends, and listen to what they say. I get to process my idea out loud, and I feel clearer. Most of the time that is enough to go on with, but - especially when I'm making big decisions- it has a major flaw: My friends don't know that I'm using them for clarity, so they might just tell me what they think I want to hear, or they might thoughtlessly tell me what their own fears and inhibitions tell them.

The Quakers have a wonderful format called a Clearness Committee, for when an individual (or a family or other group) is facing a particularly difficult situation or has a leading to test. A clearness committee of two or three other people meets with you for one or more sessions, and is tasked with asking questions that will lead you to consider the idea from new angles, and see it in new light.

Today I've been preparing for a clearness committee that I called for myself. I've invited three friends I trust to meet with me this morning. My next two tasks are to:

• Write a short letter introducing my leading.

• Make a list of questions I still have - not the practical questions that I can research myself, but the ones that are still puzzling me.

I strongly encourage you to seek clearness with others in some way. Reaching clearness together often means that you and your friends all find unity and insight around your project or leading, and forge a new, ongoing bond of support.

My letter: Dear friends, I am requesting a meeting to get clarity on my role as the liaison to the Earthcare Support Group. I have the time and the energy to lead the Meeting forward on a path towards unity with the Earth, and I want to be clearer on the next steps. I want to engage more of the Meeting than just the few who attend the Earthcare group. I want to offer direction, but I also know that I can't be directive: We each need to find our path. I want to create an opening for all levels of commitment.

My queries are: 

How can I best engage the Meeting as a whole in the concept of earth unity, or is this even a reasonable goal?

How can I introduce problems that need addressing without overwhelming? 

What kinds of meaningful actions could we engage in as a whole community?

3. Clearness meeting:

My friends are all seasoned Quakers who have participated in many clearness processes, so I don't need to advise them. A clearness committee does not offer counseling or advice: They will listen deeply, pinpoint the things I haven't considered, then ask open-ended questions that will hopefully unlock doors and let in new light. They will offer me the benefit of their different eyes and ears. I do not need advice or solutions yet, but only clarity. This process can be very personal for all of us, so everything shared will be kept confidential.

I've asked one friend to facilitate, and one to take notes.

This is how we will proceed:

1. Begin in silence, opening your hearts to the Spirit of Love. 

2. I will share the topic on which clearness is sought. Listeners listen deeply to the words and the Truth within.

3. The listeners ask gentle, clarifying questions so they understand the topic, and speaker answers.

4. The facilitator sums up and reflects back what has been heard, and then, in silence, everyone holds the speaker and the situation in Love. 

5. The listeners ask open ended questions, and may also make thoughtful observations, but do not offer suggestions or solutions. Each question or observation is followed by some silence, and then the speaker may respond. One listener makes note of the questions and observations offered.

6. At the end of the time allotted, we will sum up the meeting together and hold each other in Love, in silence, again.