The Nature and Purpose of the Spiritual Exercises (Part Four)

This is the fourth part of some reflections on the nature and purpose of the Ignatian Exercises. If you haven't read the previous parts, simply scroll down and read them first.

******************************

TWELVE: A Spirituality of Prayer
When I did the Exercises for the first time, it was stressed over and over that these Exercises are exercises of prayer. Prayer was to be central. My director, over and over asked me about my experiences of prayer as I did the exercises. He was not that interested in me studying the exercises or what I learned about a biblical text. He wanted to know about my experience of God through particular exercises.

The Ignatian Exercises are an experience of prayer and that is both good news and bad news for evangelicals. It is bad news in that we are much more use to the study of the Bible and the rational understanding of the meaning of the text. So this prayer focus is stretching for us. It can be somewhat awkward at first. And that is why it is good news for us also. For our great need is not to find another intellectually oriented technique for study, but to find ways to connect intimately with the Presence, Work and Will of God for us.

(By the way, don't think the Jesuits were not interested in the mind. They were and are. They were some of the most brilliant and learned of scholars their world knew. Their intellectual triumphs are legendary. They produced outstanding theologians and scholars in a wide variety of fields.)

Throughout the Exercises, a retreatant uses Centering Prayers for preparation. I also learned to "ask for what I desire" at the beginning of each exercise. The exercise itself is a time of attentiveness to what God is doing in the biblical story, in the world around you and in your life. This attentiveness, itself, is a form of prayer. Our prayer response to God arises out of our time of noticing.

For example, Week One is the focus on sin. The retreatant is invited into the muck and mire of human existence. This is for the purpose of discovering what is in the depths of one's heart and then moving through "purgative" responses of sorrow, conviction, confession and repentance. This summer I spent about six weeks working through the series of Week One exercises, some right out of the Ignatian Exercises and some others which were my own design. I had many very significant times of prayer arising out of this.

Central to the Exercises is the practice of (at least) twice a day Examens based on the initial spiritual exercise one did. While I had learned how to the Daily Examen prior to doing the Annotated Retreat, my retreat deepened my ability to do the Examen and likewise the benefits I received from them. The Examen has remained a consistent part of my Spiritual Regula over the last decade, and it has led to another wonderful result, and that is the ability to Practice the Presence of God in the Moment. (That will be another post later.)



THIRTEEN: A Missional Spirituality
This aspect of the Exercises is one that totally intrigues and jazzes me. All the other dynamics of the Exercises are alone, make this approach a deeply vital way of spirituality, but this one, for me, makes it exponentially powerful. And I think it is "a" key that made the Jesuits who they were.

What is interesting for me is that I completely missed this idea, going through the Annotated Retreat. I don't know if it was my fault that I missed it... Or, if this is one of the features that nuances the difference between an Ignatian spirituality and a Jesuit spirituality. (I'll come back to this idea at the end of this point.)

Bear with me for just a moment as I take you on a brief "monastic" detour.

While there are many Catholic monastic orders, let me show you a simple way to see the differences between the Benedictines, the Franciscans and the Jesuits (by the way, I am interested in all three of these societies and study them, and seek to emulate their best practices).

Benedict created a monastic order that was a cloistered order, living behind the "walls" of a monastery. Benedict developed his Rule, which carefully governed the life of the Benedictine monk. The hours of the day were mapped out with specific responsibilities. And central to the mapping of the day was the practice of the eight canonical hours. This just means, the monks would gather together for community (or private) prayer throughout the day. The practice of prayer was central to their community life and many hours were spent in this work of prayer.

In essence, the life of the Benedictine revolved around proximity to their "house" (monastery) and the rhythm of work, study and prayer in that "house."

The Franciscans also had "houses" but they were a missional order at heart. They would spend much of their day outside their house, doing the work of ministry to the poor and needy around them. They were, as you will see, kind of a midway step between the Benedictines and the Jesuits.

The Jesuits have as a "tag line" for their "monastic brand" - "The world is our house." In other words,the Jesuits have no house. They are fundamentally, a missional order, whose house is the world in which they minister. The Jesuits were a dispersed order, sent as missionaries to live and work among the people. Even when it was possible to send several Jesuits to one location, their focus was not on cloistered living, but on work and service in the world.

If the Francis knocked a hole in the wall of the monastery, then Ignatius knocked down the wall. (This is a paraphrase of a statement I read somewhere, but no longer remember its source.)

The Jesuit did not have a "house" in which he spent long hours of prayerful contemplation. In fact, Ignatius severely rebuked some of the early Jesuits who were spending too much time in private prayer, because they were withdrawing from the world and their mission in the world.

Therefore, the Jesuits needed a Missional Spirituality they could practice while they did their work. This has led to several ideas which aptly describe the Jesuits and their approach to spirituality.

Contemplation in Action

Reflection on the Run

The Jesuits were fundamentally activists who developed a spirituality that would shape and nurture all their action. They were not fundamentally contemplatives who then did service to the world in their left over time. I am not saying that one way is right and the other is wrong. I am just pointing out the different monastic ways. And this distinction is pretty important.

This Jesuit approach will have a strong appeal and lasting benefit for those who are highly activist and for whom missional engagement in the world is a passion.

The Jesuits developed a spirituality that empowered them for some of the most fruitful missional activity the world has ever seen. The results they saw were enormous. The fruit they generated was staggering in its depth and breadth. The Jesuits had some of the original BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals, Jim Collins). And they had a spirituality that made it possible.

In another post to come, I will share why I think Ignatian spirituality is well suited for all activists, and especially for men, who tend to be activist in orientation. It is within reach for such individuals to become contemplatives in action, who reflect on the run, and who turn the world upside down.

As I already mentioned, I missed this entirely, when I did the Exercises in the form of the Annotated Retreat. And it may be because Jesuit spirituality, which was designed for the Jesuit Order, which was essentially a missional order, has been adapted and morphed for non-Jesuits. Jesuit spirituality, so morphed, becomes a bit more generic Ignatian spirituality, which uses the spiritual methodologies developed by Ignatius, but outside of the Jesuit context of mission. And to borrow the title of a somewhat recent movie, something is Lost in Translation when this happens.

I didn't make this connection until I began to study the history of the Jesuits and read biographies of Ignatius and the other Jesuits. Then, this principle was simply everywhere. I think this is a much needed corrective to some of the contemplative spirituality today that seems to lack a missional outcome. But, more on this down the road.

FOURTEEN: Indifference and Freedom
I suppose I could go on for many more posts on features of Jesuit spirituality, but I'll do this as the final one...and I'll do this one briefly, for this is a central theme which I'll blog about later.

The Jesuits, like the other monastic orders, had strong learnings toward obedience. The classical vows for most monastic orders were vows of chastity, poverty and obedience. The Jesuits needed to foster a radical obedience in the heart of their members, for they were a highly mobile missional society who needed to "go" at a moments notice.

Ignatius wanted his Jesuits to be so ready to move at a moment's notice, that if they were in the midst of writing a letter, and were given a command, they would stop writing the letter and go. What is striking about this, is that Ignatius did not mean, act in obedience before they even finished their letter. He meant, stop in the very act of writing out a specific "stroke of a letter." Instant, whole-hearted obedience.

The only way such obedience would be possible, such readiness and willingness in place, was if the Jesuit was free from all attachments. And the way to such freedom was to learn "indifference" to all things, save obedience to Christ's will.

This is one of the most troubling of all the features of Jesuit/Ignatian spirituality for me. It is among the most difficult. It is at odds with many other things I believe about leadership and ministry. It creates a tension for me as I help leaders develop personal mission and vision, and as I encourage them to search out the deepest longings of their heart. And then to be highly intentional and strategic about all this. Then Ignatius comes along and tells me that holy indifference and a surrendered will is the way.

Especially since we live in an age where the individual is supreme and God is mainly viewed as a means to an end we desire - this is a substantial theme, essential to Ignatius, that we can overlook. And we do so to our great detriment.

Ignatian spirituality has been described as a Spirituality of Freedom... and it truly is for those who have learned to hold all things loosely.

***********************************

Next week, we'll look at some of the main criticisms of Ignatian spirituality.


Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com

The Nature and Purpose of the Spiritual Exercises (Part Three)

This is the third part in explaining the nature and purpose of the Spiritual Exercises. If you have not read the previous two, simply scroll down and read them.

*************************

NINE: A Spirituality of Self-Awareness
In recent times, Daniel Goleman has reminded us of the importance of self-awareness that leads to self-management. The Jesuits knew this centuries earlier. Ignatius was well acquainted with the "disorders" of his former way of life and how that disordered inner world led to disturbance and disaster. Ignatius developed ways of self-examination that searched out one's desires and motives.

Ignatius wanted the Jesuits to move into a mature self-knowledge, where with clarity and honesty they understood their ego, and were intentional about moving away from self-deception.

In this matter, Ignatius, for me, seems closely akin to John Calvin, who understood the intricacies of the fallen, deformed inner world and who believed that true wisdom consisted of the true knowledge of God and the true knowledge of one's self. There is a rich, dynamic interplay and movement between the pursuit of knowing Christ and knowing oneself. Calvin admitted that he did not know which one came first or led to the other, they were so intertwined. I suspect that Ignatius would have agreed with this.

Self-awareness and the personal knowledge of God through careful, attentive reflection.

Ignatius wanted the Jesuits to engage in life long reflection and contemplation, but with a twist. The Jesuits learned how to do "contemplation on the run." Where other orders had their members spend hours in the "cell" in silence, solitude and reflection, the Jesuits were a missional order (more on this in the next post). The Jesuits needed a way to reflect - on the spot and in the moment, quickly and substantially.

The Spiritual Exercises, practiced for the 30 Day Retreat, prepared the Jesuit to do reflection in action, throughout the day. Our of this came the possibility of continually re-ordered desires and the willingness to be both innovative and surrendered, entrepreneurial and obedient, and above all in a place of balanced indifference (see below).

TEN: A Christ Centered Spirituality
Some of the main dialog partners I have in mind as I write for this site are evangelicals. We have often been suspicious of Catholic thought. Ignatius has a profoundly deep love and respect for Christ. In all things Ignatian - Christ is at the center, and that includes the Spiritual Exercises.

The goal of the Exercises is for the retreatant to love Christ above all else/others and then to love the world in and through Christ. It is love for Christ that fuels the missional energies of the Jesuits as they love and serve the world. For Ignatius, the more an individual will taste of Christ, the more that person will find distasteful, all that is not Christ.

Jesus is the saving, healing, suffering Christ who is King. Christ who is King has a clear will for the retreatant and the Spiritual Exercises are for the purpose of discovering that will.

Reflection after reflection is centered on the birth, the life, the ministry and the passion/resurrection of Christ. The Exercises explore the Kingdom, the standard/way, the will and the calling of Christ. Ignatius wants the retreatant to be immersed in Christ's life through imaginative entering of the Gospel stories and to discern where re-ordering of one's life is needed.

To know Christ and the will of Christ is the goal. Ignatius aims very high, desiring that his Jesuits would know the gifts of Christ for ones self and then to make a free and full choice to respond to Christ in love and service.

In this, Ignatius seems to out-do many evangelicals in the depth of how Christ totally shapes his spirituality and spiritual formation.

ELEVEN: A Biblical Spirituality
The Exercises are a biblical spirituality. During the time of his convalescence and recovery after being injured in battle, Ignatius had for his reading material (and Ignatius was an avid reader) only the Gospels and a famous "Life of the Saints" biography.

While Ignatius did not write extensive volumes of theology or commentaries on the Bible, still, his spiritual formation was grounded in the Scriptures and launched out of the Bible, especially the Gospels.

The Spiritual Exercises do not refer to the theologies of the church or to the theological issues and debates of the day. They are simpler and more focused. The method is for the retreatant to engage with the the stories of the Gospels and on biblical themes.

With that said, Ignatius as a Roman Catholic, has a high view of Mary and the Saints and they are part of the Spiritual Exercises (although not a major part). In my experience, it was very easy to reframe any particular exercise that involved Mary and/or the saints right back to Christ.

********************************

Next week's post will finish this look at the nature and purpose of the Spiritual Exercises.

Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com

The Nature and Purpose of the Spiritual Exercises (Part Two)

This is part two of an explanation about the nature of the Spiritual Exercises. If you have not read part one, you should read that first. Simply scroll down to the previous post.

********************************

FIVE: The Experience of God.
The Spiritual Exercises are not a study of spirituality, nor are they a theology about God. The intent of the Exercises is to help the "retreatent" experience God. For many evangelicals (who are some of the conversation partners for this site), we have preferred intellectual discussions about God over personal conversations with God. Our focus is on our concepts of God encapsulated in our doctrinal formulations about God and not on the existential encounter with God.

J.I. Packer (Reformed theologian) described it as the difference between Knowing God and Knowing About God. Ignatius wanted his society to know God and the Exercises were designed for that end. For those who live in an age that is hungry for God, but who have settled for studying a Cookbook and memorizing recipes, the Spiritual Exercises are a way to "taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8).

The personal encounter with and experience of God is woven throughout the Exercises.

SIX: Finding God in All Things.
Brother Lawrence used the language of Practicing the Presence of God. What makes Brother Lawrence (who was not a Jesuit but rather a Carmelite monk) so special is that he learned how to do this in the simple, mundane things of life - like working in the Abbey Kitchen as a cook and dishwasher. In those simple tasks he encountered God.

The Jesuits had a similar idea in their desire to Find God in All Things.

You are probably familiar with the poem by Gerald Manley Hopkins which begins:

The world is charged with the grandeur of God...

What you may not know is that Hopkins was a Jesuit! And in this poem, he is expressing a core, Jesuit, worldview conviction that the Presence and Work of God is pervasive... everywhere. The Jesuits had a world affirming and a world engaging spirituality and they were skilled in practices needed to find God in all things.

The Spiritual Exercises teach one the tools and mindsets for Attentiveness and Awareness. This becomes a spiritual posture as one engages in the Daily Examen (of which there are at least two variations of this taught by Ignatius.)

(Here is a run on sentence that you will probably need to read twice.)

The Daily Examen, a discipline in which one reflects back over the day to notice and discern the Presence, Work and Word of God that was with one, but perhaps unnoticed in the busyness of the moment, was a life changing discipline I was taught in the early stages of my 19th Annotated Retreat. Late at night, when everyone was asleep, I would spend an hour or two in an Examen, journaling my recollections and prayers... slowly discovering how God was with me and what God was doing.

Twice a day Examens (at least) are part of the Jesuit way, learned through the Spiritual Exercises. It becomes habitual for a practitioner trained in the Exercises to begin to practice the presence of God, in the moment... finding God in the here and now... and that is a beautiful way to live.

SEVEN: A Spirituality of Conversion.
The Spiritual Exercises have the potential to uproot and dismantle your old identity, purpose and way, and then Re-order Everything about you. These are not simple exercises that accessorize your current way of doing things. They are not a quick fix solution for the spiritually bored. They are not a "quick pick-me up" for the religiously lethargic.

The early followers of Jesus were described as those who have "caused trouble all over the world" (Acts 17:6). They caused trouble wherever they went, because they spoke about things that were in opposition to the status quo, the way things are, the powers that be. That is exactly what the Exercises do. They are troubling to the established order of your world. They turn it upside down, or perhaps better, right side up. And then, thus equipped, you become a "troubler of the world." (More on this one later when I talk about the Exericses as a Missional Spirituality.)

Note: It is a bit ironic that the Jesuits were a society of missional entrepreneurs, who in their day, caused trouble all over the world as well. Something they are still doing.....

The Spiritual Exercises aim at nothing less then a re-birth in the life of the retreatent. (I hope this image is not offensive, but it is powerful in communicating the drastic nature of re-birth.) Palin-genesis is the goal. Ignatius would settle for nothing less than challenging his members to embrace a re-created life, a re-structured self and a re-shaped identity, all built on and sustained by a total commitment to God and His will. The Exercises progressively and relentlessly make the retreatent face this theme and this Person Jesus who asks us for everything.

Here is where our experience of the Exercises may veer off (at least a bit) from their original intent. Remember that the Exercises were developed for Jesuit novices to do BEFORE they took their vows of obedience, poverty and chastity to the Jesuit Order. The Exercises were designed to help the novice make their life altering vow to follow the will of God in the context of the society of Jesus.

This is a concern that I have. For those of us (the vast majority) who do the Exercises in some variation of the 19th Annotated Retreat, this paradigm changing nature of the Exercises may be missed or at least lessened. It was not that way for the Jesuits. To view and use the Exercises, merely as a supplement or enhancement to your spiritual world is to fall short of the full potential of these Exercises.

EIGHT: A Spirituality of Choice and Response.
This one certainly makes sense. This flows directly out of the previous section. The Exercises ask you to determine and choose "only" those ways that are most conducive for you to achieve the end for which you are created. "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10). In the words of Ignatius:

"Man is created to praise, reverence and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul. . . Our one desire and choice should be what is more conducive to the end for which we are created."

This is known as the First Principle! Ignatius begins his Spiritual Exercises asking us to reflect on and take up our creational purpose. It is the First Thing. It is the Main Thing. The Exercises are written to make this good choice possible and Ignatius will bring us back to this, over and over.

Metanoia (repentance) leads to Palin-genesis (re-birth) which makes metanoia possible - which deepens the palin-genesis - and the retreatent moves further into this spiritual ascent into the presence and will of God.

Here is the link for this beautiful image and many more contemplative images like it.

******************

Here is a teaser for next week's post. To choose wisely and well requires that you and I be free of dis-ordered attachments, that we have the equilibrium of Indifference and that we have tools of discernment. I'll pick up with this in the next post.

Brian K. Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

www.lci.typepad.com

The Nature and Purpose of the Spiritual Exercises (Part One)

In this post, I want to begin explaining the format, nature and purpose of the Spiritual Exercises.

It is a fair question to ask - why have the Spiritual Exercises had so much appeal and been found useful over the centuries? The Exercises have been described as, "terse, un-decorative, skeletal, compact." It is a small book and written in a style that would not win any prizes for great literature.

They were not a treatise on the spiritual life. They are not a theological volume. You would have no idea of the main controversies and arguments of its day as you read through them. There are not autobiographical. They are not "warm, personal or disclosing."

They were "at first a series of loose notes, detached remarks, and sketches. These were preserved, used, and completed during the years. Finally they were gathered into a whole of potent interior logic but with no carefulness of composition."

If you sat down with a copy and just read through them, frankly, you would not know what to do with them or how to use them. In the early 1990's I bought a copy of the Exercises (I was starting to "try" to read some of the spiritual classics. I read a little bit of the book... had no idea what to do with it... was not attracted to its style... and put it on the shelf... for almost a decade. I was not alone in this experience.

Yet, the Exercises have endured and have a wide and universal appeal. At one time they were the domain of the Jesuits and were a Jesuit spirituality. In the early 1970's a few individuals began to offer the Spiritual Exercises in a retreat form to those outside the Jesuit order. Today they are an Ignatian spirituality, with a growing use by those who know little of the Jesuits. When I did the 19th Annotated Retreat, I learned about the Exercises, but had little awareness of the Jesuits. I had a Jesuit Director for a guide, but the way the Exercises were presented to the group and how my Director took me through them, the Jesuit order was a non-issue.

Let me begin to describe the Exercises. I'll need a few posts to do this.

ONE:
The Exercises are a structured spiritual formation process that are written (primarily) for Spiritual Directors and not the one going through the Exercises. Even though I was led through the exercises and assignments in the book, I never used the book itself when I went through the Exercises in 2000-2001. With this said, I think it is good to use the book as a reference text as one does the Exercises.

TWO:
The Exercises are a collection of spiritual practices and methodologies of spiritual formation, a set of actual spiritual assignments/exercises to be done, and a series of notes and comments written for Directors as they take people through the Exercises.

THREE:
The "structure" of the Exercises is mainly divided into what Ignatius calls, Four Weeks. The term "week" is metaphorical and it is really Four Movements. Each Movement has both practices and exercises and these are progressive and cumulative.

Week One: Meditations on Sin (lengthy)
Week Two: Meditations on the Life of Christ and Following Christ (the longest)
Week Three: Meditations on the Passion of Christ (shorter)
Week Four: Meditations on the Resurrection of Christ (very short section)

There is an introduction where Ignatius sets out important principles.
There is a final section (lengthy) describing practices of formation and notes to help Directors.

FOUR:
The Exercises were originally designed to be done on a 30 Day Retreat, where the "retreatant" would spend the entire time in meditation and reflection. The 30 Day Retreat was a kind of "spiritual boot camp" for the Jesuits.

This format, while it was fine for Jesuit novices (in training) and for members, it was not as doable for non-Jesuits, most of whom could not just take a month off from life and work and go through the experience. Eventually, an 8 Day format was developed (I am not exactly sure when) and the 19th Annotated Retreat has become a popular form for going through the Exercises.

The 19th Annotated Retreat gets its name from the fact that in the 19th annotation or footnote, Ignatius offers an alternative way for non-Jesuits to go through the exercises.

This is the way I went through the Exercises. For nine months, I would attend a weekly class taught by several Directors. Each week would involve teaching on the methodology of spiritual formation and an introduction to the particular exercises we would practice in the following days. The participants then met with our personal Director to talk about our experiences of the previous week as we did the exercises.

For a brief description, read this.

Okay, that's enough for this post. I'll pick up next time explaining more about the "spiritual nature and purpose of the Exercises."

Brian Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International

www.lci.typepad.com