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
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