"Be as eager for milk as newborn babies - pure milk of the spirit to make you grow unto salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good." 
                                                                                            (1 Peter 2:2)

As I write this, my six-month-old son Michael is nursing and falling asleep on my lap.  I will never forget my wonder and astonishment when he began to suckle and nurse just minutes after birth.  He had barely begun to breathe, and yet was already eager to receive that nourishment.  Michael is old enough now to remember the taste, the comfort, the pleasantness of nursing, so he is very expressive of his eagerness for it.  Over these months, as my milk has nourished him, I have watched him grow into his beautiful little self.

How much more has the "pure milk of the spirit" nourished me in my life!

My family is going through a time of natural, human rejection and uncertainty right now.  It has prompted me to reflect on the patterns of God's action in my life.  I look back, and I look around, and I know with deep certainty that I have "tasted that the Lord is good."  My husband, my children, family, friendships, care, protection,  - all have been deep draughts of God's goodness to me.  I cannot forget the taste, even in difficult times like these.  These circumstances of natural disappointment and emptiness make me all the more hungry, all the more keenly aware of the scent and taste of the spirit.

Bartimaeus in today's gospel knew the taste of the spirit.  In his blindness and his destitution, somewhere he had tasted the Lord's goodness and it had nourished his faith.  He recognized the scent of God as Jesus passed by, and was embarrassingly persistent in his hunger for another taste of God's love.  And what did he do with his newfound gift of sight?  He used it to "follow Jesus up the road" - still hungry.

I think this is what Ignatian discernment is all about.  Experiencing God's lavish love and never being able to get enough.  Developing a taste for the "milk of the spirit."  Seeking it out, staying hungry for it, recognizing it amidst the feast and the famine that is our daily lives.