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

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

Why is a Good Evangelical "Messing Around" With Catholic Stuff?

Believe me, it wasn't something I had planned on doing!

But today, I hardly give it a second thought. And . . . sometimes I just forget where a lot of evangelicals and other conservative Christians are on the issue of Roman Catholics.

I want to give a qualifier right up front.

When it comes to theology, I am strongly in the mainstream evangelical world, nuanced by both Reformed theology, the charismatic movement and some postmodern musings. When it comes to Roman Catholic theology, I agree with them where they affirm the historic creeds that all Christians have affirmed... and I part with them when it comes to specific Catholic doctrines, like the infallibility of the Pope, praying to the saints, praying to Mary, the Immaculate Conception of Mary, or Mary as co-Redemptrix with Christ. On these and many other doctrines particular to Roman Catholicism, I part ways.

I am also a pastor on staff of a church that has large numbers of "former" Roman Catholics in attendance. (I had the same situation when I was a senior pastor in upstate New York.) I have heard endless stories from these individuals that they found their faith experience severely lacking in their Roman Catholic upbringing, and they found a real and personal relationship with Christ at our church. So I definitely understand that how evangelicals have understood the process of conversion is quite different from the way many people do (or do not) experience it in Roman Catholicism.

I am a Protestant. I am an evangelical. I am a Reformed, postmodern evangelical. I resonate with the Generous Orthodoxy described by Brian McLaren. I am shaped by Calvin, Luther and Wesley. I have learned from Jonathan Edwards and Helmet Thielicke, Millard Erickson and Thomas Oden, Bruce Demarest and Peer Kreeft, charismatics and neo-Calvinists . . . LIke I said, it is a generously wide Orthodoxy in which I live.

And it has room for learning from Roman Catholicism as well as Eastern Orthodoxy (of which I am much less informed).

Here is what I found in the contemplative, Catholic stream of spirituality.

• I found they were further ahead than my Protestant, evangelical tradition.
• I found traditions that had worked very hard at developing methodologies of formation and encounter.
• I found a warm, relational, usually Christ centered spirituality.
• I found ways and approaches that I had not found in my evangelical or Reformed upbringings.
• We evangelicals were better at discussing theology than in practicing spirituality. We were more interested in guidelines, principles and rules for practical Christian living than in spiritual formation of our inner world out of which a new kind of living could flow.

So what I did was borrow the methodologies of spirituality and join them with my evangelical theology. And in doing so, I found a way to encounter God in deeply relational, transformative ways.

I have been influenced by theBenedictines and the Rule of St. Benedict. I appreciate and constantly use a version of Lectio Divina that Benedict (while he did not invent) developed and used in the monasteries he founded. I use his idea of a "regula" to shape my spiritual practices.

I have been influenced by theFranciscans and the simplicity of the "gospel witness" of St. Francisand his friars. (Francis is pictured above on the right, in the brown robe).

But I have been MOST influenced by the Jesuits and the Ignatian tradition of spirituality developed by St. Ignatius and set forth in his Spiritual Exercises.

In addition to the spiritual formation methodology of Ignatius, I am also impressed with the leadership development that was woven into the formation of Jesuit lives.

And, I am similarly impressed with the incredible missional energy of the Company of Friends (or) Society of Jesus, as they are known.

Leadership --- Spirituality --- Mission

In the Jesuits, they come together in a synergistic combination that intrigues me and which is my calling, namely, to equip missional followers of Christ for leadership and spirituality that bears much fruit that lasts.

So, this is why I am an Evangelical on the Ignatian Way and walking the Ignatian Road (see note at the bottom).

Next week, I will take some time to describe the nature and the purpose of the Spiritual Exercises. After you read that, I think you'll understand, even more, why I am drawn to them.

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