I exercise four or five days a week. I have pretty challenging routines of both strength training and cardiovascular exercise. A common mistake many people make is to dive right in to their training routines at the full intensity. Not only is this a mistake, it can be a costly one. For the body is not yet ready for vigorous, demanding exercise. The muscles are not loose or limber for what you are about to do to them.
Instead, you must warm up. Easy jogging causes the blood to begin to flow which warms up the muscles. Stretching helps loosen muscles that are tight. Light weights with slow moving repetitions prepare the muscles for greater demands.
How long a person needs to warm up is entirely personal, but I find that 5-10 minutes are about right for a good time of physical exercise.
I think the spiritual body needs warmed up as well. You aren't going to risk injury to your spirit by not warming up. But, without the warm up, I don't believe you will be as focused and ready for the Ignatian Workout (the title of Tim Muldoon's book, by the way.)
The spiritual warm up prepares your heart, mind and soul by helping you put aside distractions. Your attention is scattered and drawn to many things. You want to gather your attention to refocus it on God's presence. Your mind is naturally wandering (or racing) and you want to slow things down and redirect them in the way God is inviting you to walk.
Awareness and Centering is the first movement in the Daily Examen. Gallagher says, the Examen is "...profoundly relational... before all else we become aware simply of being with the God who is looking upon us."
This awareness is gained when we slow down refocus on the God who is with us and who loves us. There are several ways I use to do this.
ONE that works well for me is the slow repeating of a phrase that I use as a prayer of longing, desire, and invitation. The phrase changes, although I have a few that I use more than others. Most of them are very short and are the words of Scripture. This is not the time to be "wordy." It is a time to (1) feel your own desire for God and (2) to become conscious of the God who is with you. Too many words can be distracting.
Here are some phrases I use. I mainly use one phrase to begin an Examen. Sometimes I may use more than one, but usually, it is just one, repeated several times.
- Come Lord Jesus...
- My soul longs for you...
- I love you Lord...
- I seek your face O Lord...
- Here I am Lord...
A SECOND way is to use your imagination. Imagination was a favorite and frequent spiritual exercise that Ignatius recommended. Ignatius wanted the heart engaged with God and he knew the power of the imagination to stir the affections toward God. In this case the imagination focuses on a story or an idea from the Bible that shows relationship.
I have used imagination to recall:
- God walking with Adam and Even in the garden.
- Moses standing before the burning bush.
- David (the Psalmist King) in the quiet of the night pouring out his heart to God.
- Jesus inviting his disciples to come and be with him.
- Mary sitting listening to Jesus.
- Jesus walking with the disciples on the road to Emmaus.
The way of using any of these stories is to imagine God with the person and to sense the longing of the person and to know that God desires to be with them. And then for you to experience that same longing.
A THIRD way is to sit in silence and practice slow breathing. When I do this, I will often use the name Jesus to focus my attention on Christ. I sit in a comfortable chair with good posture. I'll have my hands resting on legs with the palms turned up in the posture of receptivity. Sometimes this is sufficient, and other times I move into the first practice I mentioned.
A FOURTH way is to have a few favorite verses from the Psalms that are about longing and desire for God,or about your need for God. Again, you don't want to be too wordy. This is not a Bible study time, nor even a lectio divina (spiritual reading) time. One or two verses read prayerfully, spoken out loud prayerfully, repeated two or three times... and always with the sense of desire.
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This "entry way" into the Examen does not take very long. If I am very distracted and my mind is racing, it may take a few moments to become quiet interiorly (in the interior of your being). If there are distractions around you, they will intrude, so be sure to practice the Examen in a setting where external distractions are at a minimum.
This entry way is like the front porch or a foyer of a house. You are not meant to stand in the entry way for long. It is just the "way in" to the house. I don't have a watch with me, but I doubt it spend more than 2 or 3 minutes in this first step. Sometimes it takes only a few seconds for my attention and awareness to connect with God.
But this entry way is valuable for getting in touch with desire and longing for God. It is useful for preparing the mind and heart for reflection. It is useful for letting go of the distractions of the day.
This week, you may want to experiment, practicing this first step into the Examen.
Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com
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