Guidance

I spend several hours a day in meditation, listening for guidance, and I have been asked several tines how I can trust that guidance came from a good source and not a negative one. I rely, primarily, on my own ability to discern and often checking with others about what I "hear". I also listen for the fruits of the Spirit which have been translated as ‘love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control’" (Galatians 5:23 NJB). I listen for and expect the messages to be other directed and selfless. I like the words of Patricia Loring; "Our awareness develops in the context of prayer, our communication with God—not only as we address God but as we learn to listen for God."