maturity
Maturity requires
Knowledge
Experience
Discernment
The spiritual master has knowledge, experience, and discernment. That’s what makes him or her wise.
Knowledge pertains to the intellectual framework that understands the content but also has synthesized it enough to be able to extract what’s needed to bring a heart to a realization of God’s path or remedy or choice for them in the form of enlightenment and not just information. It’s the perception shaped by years of insights that come from reality empowered by the anointed understanding.
Experience is necessary to keep the spiritual master humble, in wonder of the awe of God. He can warn a heart about the consequences of choices because he or she failed so many times to learn where to put their energy into. Encouragement based on the personal experience they give builds up slowly through the years and keeps a healthy dose of doubt as well as caution from over-spiritualizing, over-intellectualizing, and oversimplifying reality. Leaving space for complexity without compromising heart’s choices is their school of virtue.
Discernment is the connection with the divine senses which are a gift to see through, hear accurately, and sense the truth in the midst of many ideas. It’s a gift that connects heaven’s whispers to the reality around. Discernment is what makes a person wise in addition to using knowledge and experience.
Where are those spiritual masters of our days?
They are usually not very public, keep company with few friends, don’t care about publicity, and don’t run after recognition. They know their call makes them vulnerable. They keep secrets between them and God. They see Jesus as their Master. They rely on the Holy Spirit for more than charismatic gifts or consolations. They hide to find true life. They pursue what others don’t even see. They move ahead and then withdraw. They lead for a whole but then disappear. The Wind takes them with its gusts toward the land where He dwells in silence.
“For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” - St. Paul to Corinthians