During the last Confirmation Class I taught, we were all sitting around a table discussing one of our prayer activities: How do we notice God in our everyday life?. One of the confirmands was lining up tiles like dominoes as we spoke. I watched as the line became longer and longer. I commented upon what I was noticing. I talked about how the first time we consciously notice God/Spirit in our lives it is challenging. As we notice God more and more it becomes easier and easier. Soon we see Spirit in everything we do and everywhere we go. Like dominoes. The first tile falls and all of a sudden the veil is dropped and we are awake and can see.
The season of Lent invites us to begin this journey anew each year; to consciously choose to spend six week practicing the spiritual discipline of noticing God/Spirit in our lives. Lent invites us to wake up from our winter slumber; to feel the sap rising in our veins; to watch our life rebirthing; and to notice how the Sacred is companioning us in this.
Many people give something up for Lent. I do not. I take on a spiritual practice. I make a conscious commitment to set aside time, to find a sacred place, and to deepen my spiritual practice. I try out new prayer forms to see how they connect with me. Some I keep. Others I let go at the end of the Lenten Season.
This year I have been given the invitation to pray the Prayer of Examen. The prayer of Examen helps us look for the traces of God’s actions in our daily life. By practicing this prayer, we train ourselves to notice God’s presence and actions; and also to notice where we fall short in our response. Timothy Gallagher, a retreat leader, says it well: “The prayer of examen is the specific searching every day to find where God’s love is active this day, where God’s love is leading today, to discern what within me may be resisting that leading and to discover the growth to which God is calling me tomorrow and that this deepest desire can be increasingly fulfilled.” (Liebert, Elizabeth. The Way of Discernment: Spiritual Practices for Decision Making. p5)
It is a very simple prayer. There are many versions of this prayer. From time to time throughout Lent, I will post a different version for you to see. They all follow the same flow. You begin by giving thanks for God’s gifts to you this day. Then you begin to review your day. You notice where your experienced Spirit in your day and where you felt Spirit’s absence. You notice when you acted in love and when you acted not in love. You hold the good and the challenging before God. As you hold the places where you ‘missed the mark’ before God, you hear Spirit say to you, “I know that about you AND I love you.” Forgiveness in its deepest sense. Then, with a clear understanding of your day, you set an intention for the next day, asking the Sacred to help you live as close to that intention as you can. This prayer takes anywhere from 10 minutes on. Its power comes in practicing it regularly; daily if possible.
I invite you to contemplate what God is inviting you to this Lenten Season. Is there a practice or discipline that God is inviting you to ‘try on’ for a time? Do you feel drawn to the prayer of examen? What is God writing on your heart to pay attention to this Lenten Season?
Join me in this journey deeper into the Heart of God.
Find 5-15 minutes a day, usually at the end of your day.
1 - Briefly review your day – events, experiences, thoughts, & feelings.
2 - Thank God for the specific gifts of the day.
3 - Celebrate God’s empowering LOVE at those moments of the day when you were feeling loved or loving, free, connected, trusting, undefended, joyful, or grateful. Respond to what it was like to participate with God/with Love.
4 - Celebrate God’s undefeated love at those moments when you were less than loving or when you were not aware of God’s Spirit. Respond to what it was like to not participate with God/with Love – and hear God say to you:
“I know that and I love you!”
5 - Ponder: What grace am I being invited to ask for? ASK! Consider what life would look like if that grace were given.
6 - Dialogue with God or just be still with Presence.
7 - Close your prayer to rest in preparation for another day.
Repeat this prayer every day; once a week; however often you feel led to pray.
this is a beautiful practice--thank you. I've been looking for a new way back into a more nightly "Bedtime Shema" practice---which has each element of this including the forgiveness parts--but the phrase "I know this about you, and I forgive you" is just what I needed. I will join you in the practice (and if you want to talk about Bedtime Shema and/or daily Musar practice, please let me know)
ReplyDelete