Coin Flip Discernment
Sometimes Jesuits talk as if St. Ignatius said all there was to say about discernment.
Now, he was a spiritual master. His rules for discernment have guided important decisions in my life.
But humans have learned a thing or two since Ignatius died in 1540. We don't need to ignore psychology or other disciplines that might help us make good decisions.
As the saint known for "finding God in all things," I think Ignatius would encourage learning from what others have discovered.
Two books about decision-making I recommend are Decisive by Chip and Dan Heath and Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke. They're excellent, but they have some God-shaped gaps.
Just as Jesuits might miss the insights from people outside of the Society of Jesus, it's not uncommon for experts today to miss the insights of religious traditions.
Some of the latest "discoveries" in the psychology of decision-making sound a lot like what Ignatius described nearly 500 years ago.
We can learn something from all things. Maybe even a coin flip: