The Examen - our discipline for April 2012

In many of our disciplines thus far in the Living Vision journey, we have sought to set aside our thoughts, to push away our analytical, mental machinations. We have, in one sense, sought to transport ourselves into the realm and presence of the transcendent God. We have wanted to make room for God, create space in our mind for God to speak by pushing away our thoughts about the day and setting aside our tendency to mull over recent events.

But in the spiritual discipline we begin for the month of April, we wille actually seek to pay attention to the day we had. We’ll want to listen to our own observations about what we experienced today in order to see if we can find any traces of the presence, power, and guidance of God IN and through those experiences.

The Examen is a spiritual practice of examination. In his most famous work, The Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius of Loyola sought to “examine his daily life for signs of God’s presence.” While we believe in a God who is wholly other and beyond our reach and intellectual capacity, we also believe in a God who is always with us, who abides with us and is IN the nitty gritty of our lives. So it only makes sense that the spiritual minded among us would seek to hone and fine-tune our observational skills in hopes of seeing God’s hand in our lives.

According to an Ignatian discipiles, the Examen is “a technique of prayerful reflection on the events of the day in order to detect God’s presence and discern his will or direction for us.  The Examen is an ancient practice…that can help us see God’s hand at work in our whole experience.”

This is a version of the five-step daily Examen that St. Ignatius practiced:

1. Become aware of God’s presence.

   Use your breathing to connect to Presence. State your intention to be

   with and listen to God.

   

2. Review the day with gratitude.

   Gratitude is the foundation of our relationship with God. Walk through

   your day in the presence of God and noting its joys and delights.

3. Pay attention to your emotions.

   Reflect on the feelings you experienced during the day. What seems

   important? Consider what God is saying through these events or through

   your emerging feelings about them?

4. Choose or ask the Holy Spirit to highlight one feature/ event/

   decision/moment of the day that God thinks is particularly important. And

   pray on it, reflect on it. It may be a vivid moment or something that seems

   nsignificant.

5. Look toward tomorrow.

    Ask God to give you light for tomorrow's challenges. Can what you’ve

    seen/felt from today’s events and the examen guide you tomorrow?

So we’ll proceed together through all five of these steps and then spend some time afterward talking about what we experienced.

Living Vision meets three Tuesday evenings a month from 7:30-8:30 at Yoga Roots in Petoskey (444 E. Mitchell St. - enter via the back door of the alley). All are welcome to practice with us. We don't meet the first Tuesday of the month. For more information email Toby Jones at tobyjones48@gmail.com. Grace & Peace...