The Daily Examen, Part One: Introduction

When I first began my exploration of and experience with contemplative spirituality, the Daily Examen was THE discipline at the center of this journey.

I was in pretty rough shape at the time. Burned out. Disillusioned with the ministry. Tired of leadership. Tired of being a bad leader. Frustrated and scared of how little I knew or experienced God. Wondering if God loved me. Doubting that I loved Him.

I learned how to do the Daily Examen from a class I took with John Ackerman (to the right) about ten years ago. John was a deeply spiritual and wonderfully wise and gentle teacher. The slow, halting, inadequate practice of this discipline was my lifeline. Every night, late at night, I would be in my study (sometimes for hours) doing the Examen... reflecting, journaling, praying, crying, seeking...

Through the Examen, I begin to pay attention to what was going on in my external environment, what was going on in my inner world in response to the stuff happening around me, and above all - where was Christ in both external and internal worlds. Attentiveness happened early... awareness took longer... insight was later in coming... transformation tagged along last.

Ten years later, the Examen is still a part of my "Regula."

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Some interpreters of Ignatius believe that the Examen is the central Ignatian spiritual exercise. I think they are right. Ignatius was not the first or only one to use the Examen, but it has come to be so associated with him, that if you do a Google Search, most of the top references have to do with the Ignatian Examen.

Ignatian spirituality has a core belief that God communicates with human beings through their experiences. The experiences of one's day become the "conTEXT" for one to do a "spiritual reading." Daily experience is the place where God is at work (John 5:17) and where Jesus is present (Matthew 28:20) and about which Jesus wants to speak with us (John 14:26).

Presence... Work... Word...

The Jesuits were committed to Finding God in All Things and the practice of the Daily Examen was/is the main spiritual disciplines to do this.

The Daily Examen is one way to receive illumination and enlightenment concerning the Presence, Work and Word of God (Ephesians 1:17-18) in one's life.

As an evangelical, this completely resonates with me. Our tradition is Word centered. We love the Scriptures. We love to study the Bible. We value it enormously as the Word of God, revelation and truth. Through the pages of the Old and New Testament the Person and the Way of God is revealed to us.

I do not think we always know how to engage with the Scriptures in ways that actually connect us with the heart of God and which transform our lives... but that is another post. The point here is, the Bible is the central avenue to walk in our search for knowing God.

Ignatius believed this and that is why Scriptural reflection is so central to the Spiritual Exercises.

In addition to this, Ignatius believed hundreds of years before Henry Blackaby (pictured above, to the right), that God is present with and working through the experiences of every day life. We must learn how to discover God in those experiences. Ignatius also believed that the same God was at work in our hearts and that this work is most clearly discerned as our hearts respond to the events of the day. Provided we have a way to notice this inner and outer work.

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43. Method of Making the General Examination of Conscience
There are five points in this method.

The words above are how Ignatius begins his one page explanation of this method. (By the way, the numbers refer to the paragraph section and not to a page.)

Here is one way (and how I) practice the Examen. I will give you the "steps" or "movements" today and in the weeks to come, take one step each post and explore it a bit more fully. You do not need to wait to begin practicing the Examen until I have presented all the steps. It is worth your while to practice each step and add to it as the weeks go by.

ONE: Awareness and Centering Prayer... this is really the preparation for Examen.

TWO: Gratitude... becoming aware of what you have received during the day that was God's gift to you. And being thankful for those gifts. (This is actually the first step Ignatius gives.)

THREE: Desire or Prayer... asking God for what you deeply desire in terms of your Examen.

FOUR: The Review of the Day... this is at the heart of the Examen and can be practiced in different ways. This is when you walk through your day, remembering both the experiences of the day and your responses to the day (your inner responses and your external responses). And paying attention to where God was at work and speaking but you did not notice "in the moment." (Some teachers of the Examen will recommend that you then pick "one" experience and response and move in to it more deeply.

FIVE: Forgiveness... asking for grace and pardon for the faults discerned and seeking healing concerning those things. (Some teachers of the Examen add more general petitions in to this movement as well.)

SIX: Amending and Anticipating... this is the action step of prayerful commitment to move forward and looking ahead to the next day. How will I live differently by God's grace? What will God's grace have for me in the day to come? (With this, the Ignatian method is ended.)

SEVEN: Some approaches encourage a final moment of rest, contemplation and awareness of how God has been with you in the time of Examen.

If steps two through six are the rooms of the Examen house.
Step one is the front porch entry way.
Step seven is the back porch departure.

More on the Examen in the weeks ahead.

May this week be a time of you Finding God in All Things.

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

A Few Ignatian Nuggets and the Jesuits in Cordoba Argentina

I am writing this while in Argentina teaching... so I don't have time for substantial writing on the Exercises. But here are a few nuggets that I hope will be as meaningful for you as they are for me.

FIRST, an accolade from Ron Hansen, novelist (left).
"I have simply been trying to figure out how to live my life magnificently, as Ignatius did, who sought in all his works and activities, the greater glory of God."

SECOND, an illumination from Howard Gray, S.J. (below)."Ignatian spirituality is at heart a discerning pilgrimage to God guided by three important elements: the reality of Christ, the mission entrusted to the church and human experience."

THIRD, a prayer from Ignatius.
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and all my will - all that I have and possess. You, Lord, have given all to me. I now give it back to you, O Lord. All of it is yours. Dispose of it according to your will. Give me love of yourself along with your grace, for that is enough for me.

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I too would like to live magnificently as did Ignatius.

That means, I too,(most likely) must be on a discerning pilgrimage to God guided by the same elements that guided Ignatius.

And it means I need to genuinely pray prayers similar to what Ignatius did.

Cordoba was one of the center's for Jesuit mission. If a future life, if I have the time, I would love to walk some of the Jesuit trails in Latin America. Doing this in Argentina would be nice. For two nights, I was staying one block away from the Jesuit block. The block is literally a city block near the center of Cordoba. It is a church and place of learning and residence for the early Jesuits in Argentina. The next time I am here, I am going to do a proper tour of the place, which now has a museum in it as well. While I was there, I did buy a copy of the Exercises in Spanish.

What was also real interesting is that several of the Protestant leaders that were at the training course are interested in the Jesuits and the Exercises. But, a few who had the book, made the observation that is at the heart of my motivation to produce a useful "manual." They said, they couldn't figure out how to do the Exercises!

I surfed the web looking for good resources I could link for anyone interested in this little tid bit of information. Here is the best I could find.

Lugares Magazine: The Jesuits in Argentina has some basic history, short and easy to read.

A website devoted to Jesuit Stamps from around the world! Who would have ever guessed! But this was really fun since I use to be a stamp collector and you can get a nice little bit of history added in to describe the stamps. This link is one that shows you the Cordoba Block which is also pictured below.

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

Check Back Later in October

I am on a missions trip and probably wont' post until the last Sunday in October.

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

Some Criticisms of the Exercises

It is not unexpected that the Spiritual Exercises have their critics. Nothing is perfect. Nothing is equally satisfying and meaningful to every person. Everything has its weaknesses, its biases, its deficiencies... and the Exercises are no different.

In this post, I'll briefly discuss some of the main criticisms that have been made of the Ignatian Exercises and how I assess those weaknesses.

Note: I debated whether to post this or not. It is not written quite as I would like, but time is short and I didn't have time to edit it. -bkr-

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Male-centric nature.

I'm intrigued with this criticism... for several reasons.

First - because the Jesuits were a male monastic/apostolic order within Roman Catholicism. These Spiritual Exercises were written for the male Jesuits to use in their formation and preparation. So, of course, it would be natural for them to have a male-centric flavor.

Second - because this flavor is really quite minimal. Very early and then growing rapidly, the Jesuits became spiritual directors and provided direction to many woman, using the same Spiritual Exercises they had been trained in. The woman directees benefited greatly, word spread, and more women came for the same direction. When I did the Exercises, the group consisted of 60% women and 40% men. There were more women directors to guide the retreatants than male directors.

Third - because there is a lack of approaches and models for male spirituality that actually appeal to men. My consistent experience has been that women are more interested in the relational, contemplative practices then are men. Many of these practices "feel" feminine to many men. I believe that Jesuit spirituality has a male-centric flavor to it because it is interwoven with the Jesuit orgniazation and mission, whereas Ignatian spirituality is generic, and probably appeals to women more than men. When I did the 19th Annotated Retreat, the only men in the program were clergy. There wasn't a single lay "man" in the program. Even if the Exercises did appeal to men, far from that being a criticism, it would be a bonus.

(Note: I am developing a version of the Exercises that weaves in additional leadership development exercises and missional themes alongside the spiritual formation, that I hope, will make it more attractive to men.)

Militaristic flavor.
There is certainly a flavor of the militaristic in the Exercises. This is the age of the Crusades to free Jerusalem from Islamic control. This is the age of knights, both secular and sacred. It is the context for Ignatius' life. One of Ignatius' first careers was that of a soldier. Ignatius had great dreams of doing noble deeds in the service of his king/prince. When he was wounded in battle and unable to continue in the life of a soldier, he was captivated by two books - one a Life of the Saints and the other, the Gospels of Christ. Ignatius transferred his loyalty to Christ his King and devoted his life to heroic deeds (in the manner of the saints) on behalf of Christ.

Ignatius understands life and ministry in this world involves the contest of two standards and two powers that are in conflict. The good spirit and the bad spirit are at war. The Exercises highlight this battle and seek to equip the retreatant to fight this spiritual warfare. To discern the enemy, to resist and to choose the standard of Christ.

Is this wrong? Is this a bad image? Or more to the point - is it unbiblical? I think the idea is substantially biblical. Ignatius has correctly identified a significant theme in the Scriptures, which perhaps, our culture today undervalues. We are in a battle. Powers and principalities are opposed to Christ. Internal sin dynamics and fallen social systems are strong enemies of the Kingdom of Christ. The Exercises are designed to help one align her/himself with Christ and then to extend the Kingdom of Christ further in a hostile world.

And concerning actual warfare, Ignatius was a man of great peace, kindness and love toward others. The very mission of the Society of Jesus was to "help souls." The Jesuits were pacifists who abhorred the violence of the Conquistadores in the New World. The military language of the Exercises reminds one of the Apostle Paul's words, "We do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world" (2 Corinthians 10:3-4). To which Ignatius would say,I suspect, A-men.

So again, I just don't see this as a substantial criticism.

Catholic theology.
Certainly there is some Catholic theology in the Exercises, for Ignatius was Catholic. In my experience and assessment, it is not essential to his Exercises. When I did the 19th Annotated Retreat, at several points where my evangelical theology diverged from the Catholic theology of Ignatius, it was quite simple for me to substitute my theology and continue on with the exercises. My Jesuit director

Ignatius is concerned with the distinction between mortal and venial sins.
Ignatius encourages prayers to Mary the mother of Jesus.
There are references to the saints.

But to be honest, there isn't much more than this that would be unsuitable for evangelicals... and it is all easily circumnavigated.

In my opinion, if one eliminated only a few phrases from the Spiritual Exercises, it would be difficult to even label it as "Catholic." It is easily transferrable to the world of evangelicals.

Too structured.
Hmmm... Yes and no. If you are familiar with the Myers-Briggs Temperament Indicator, one of the poles measured is how structured or unstructured one is. Planned or spontaneous. Sequential or sporadic. There are legitimate personality differences and therefore, legitimate differences in spiritual approaches.

There is certainly structure to the Exercises. They are organized sequentially in the progression of the Four Weeks. Retreatants move through those Four Weeks in order. They are structured in that Ignatius prescribes specific exercises and when they are to be done during the day. There is system and order in the Exercises.

There is also a great deal of flexibility in which exercises a retreatant may do, and a trained spiritual director will discern what the needs of the retreatant are, and give guidance accordingly. I would describe the Exercises as a framework of structure with considerable flexibility within that structure.

Admission: I am a High J on the MBTI, which means I like structure. So that is my bias as I write these words. With that said, here is what we do know about excellence. For excellence in any field, lots of time and hard work are needed, but that is not enough. That time and hard work need the structure of incrementally and progressively more challenging assignments that are difficult, but not impossible. Add to that kind of structure, a good teacher/mentor who will assess progress, provide feedback and suggest course corrections - you have the formula for achieving high levels of competence, if not excellence.

Structure is vital.

For most of us, one of the great problems of our spiritual lives is that we lack structure. We are all over the place. Haphazard, meandering, digressing, inconsistent, uneven - these are the words that describe how we have done the spiritual journey. Our problem is not too much structure, but too little. This is one more benefit/bonus of the Exercises. They do provide structure. It is not stifling. It is freeing. Which is one of the grand goals of the Exercises, that the retreatant may become a free person.

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