By Bryce Shelton
I have a hard time recognizing the presence of God. I’m not usually quick to admit that, but it’s the truth. When challenging moments come, I’m often left feeling adrift and alone, wondering why God was not there. I struggle to slow down and take note of where God is moving in my life and the world around me. Thankfully, there have been others throughout the Christian tradition who have felt this way, and they have provided guides to help us better reflect on the movement of God’s Spirit.
St. Ignatius of Loyola, the cofounder of the Jesuit order, created a practice that was meant to sustain and extend our perception of God’s presence in our lives. This practice, called the Examen, consisted of guided prompts meant to draw our attention back to moments throughout our week to discover where God was moving.
The Examen flows through several movements: awareness, gratitude, review, forgiveness, closing. A general examen could look like this:
Awareness: Take a deep breath and feel God’s presence around you.
Gratitude: Call to mind those things and people for which you are grateful.
Review: Remember a time you experienced love this week.
Forgiveness: Recall a time you missed sharing love with others and ask God for forgiveness.
Closing: Let go of anything you need to be free of and invite the Spirit of God to guide you towards love in the week to come.
Slowing down and being mindful is not something our world has trained us to do. However, today in worship, we are going to have the opportunity to practice mindfulness together.
During the Prayers of the People, we will all join in the Examen prayer. Darren will walk us through our guided prompts and as a community we will see together the ways in which God has been moving among us. During this time, as you prepare for worship, look back over the movements and prompts listed above. You may find yourself answering these prompts quickly, but speed is not the goal. The goal is to be mindful of God’s movements. So, I invite you to take time throughout worship to allow yourself to travel back through this past week, taking note of the presence of God and seeing how the Spirit has led you to this moment of worship.