The Examen traditionally has five steps:
1. Recall you are in the presence of God. No matter where you are, you are a creature in the midst of creation and the Creator who called you forth is concerned for you.
2. Give thanks to God for favors received. Pause and spend a moment looking at this day's gifts. Take stock of what you received and gave. Notice these clues that guide living.
3. Ask for awareness of the Holy Spirit's aid. Before you explore the mystery of the human heart, ask to receive the Holy Spirit so that you can look upon your actions and motives with honesty and patience. The Spirit gives a freedom to look upon yourself without condemnation and without complacency and thus be open to growth.
4. Now examine how you are living this day. Recalling the events of your day, explore the context of your actions. Review the day, hour by hour, searching for the internal events of your life. Look through the hours to see your interaction with what was before you. Ask what you were involved in and who you were with, and review your hopes and hesitations. What moved you to act the way you did?
5. Pray words of reconciliation and resolve. Having reviewed this day of your life, look upon yourself with compassion and see your need for God and try to realize God's manifestations of concern for you. Express sorrow for sin, give thanks for grace, and praise God for the times you responded in ways that allowed you to better see God's life.
(http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/prs/stign/ignatian_spirit.html)
I find this prayer to be an excellent way to become aware of God working throughout my day. When I pray this way at the end of my day, I being to see God at my side throughout the day. This reflection at the end of the day begins to permeate my day. I have practiced this more than once a day so that I do not lose track of God as much. In the early afternoon, I can get "unplugged" from God rather easily.
Also I have learned a great deal about the relationship between my consciousness of God and my conscience. While it is good to examine my conscience carefully by reviewing my day and what I have done - good or bad - I find that it is best done also thinking about how conscious of God I was at the moments where I did good or bad things. Invariably, my actions throughout the day are tied to my awareness of God in the midst of the day.
What is exciting about this prayer is that in 15-30 minutes, I can become aware of how my thoughts about God and my awareness of his presence affect my life, both in behavior and circumstances. They are not tied in a strict cause/effect relationship, but they are definitely related. The prayer of examen shows the "paths of righteousness" (Psalm 23:3) in my day through reflection, making me more able to see God in the present.
A shorthand that words for me is:
Remember God's presence.
Give thanks for God's words and works.
Ask for the Holy Spirit help in examen.
Go through the day (or period) moment by moment.
Respond to God.
Roughly, I see this progression in Psalm 119:13-16.
With my lips I recount [remember]
all the laws that come from your mouth.
I rejoice [give thanks] in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
I meditate on your precepts [ask for the Spirit]
and consider your ways [go through the day].
I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word [respond].
So another way to put it may be:
Recount,
Rejoice,
Meditate,
Consider, and
Delight and Don't neglect.
1. Recall you are in the presence of God. No matter where you are, you are a creature in the midst of creation and the Creator who called you forth is concerned for you.
2. Give thanks to God for favors received. Pause and spend a moment looking at this day's gifts. Take stock of what you received and gave. Notice these clues that guide living.
3. Ask for awareness of the Holy Spirit's aid. Before you explore the mystery of the human heart, ask to receive the Holy Spirit so that you can look upon your actions and motives with honesty and patience. The Spirit gives a freedom to look upon yourself without condemnation and without complacency and thus be open to growth.
4. Now examine how you are living this day. Recalling the events of your day, explore the context of your actions. Review the day, hour by hour, searching for the internal events of your life. Look through the hours to see your interaction with what was before you. Ask what you were involved in and who you were with, and review your hopes and hesitations. What moved you to act the way you did?
5. Pray words of reconciliation and resolve. Having reviewed this day of your life, look upon yourself with compassion and see your need for God and try to realize God's manifestations of concern for you. Express sorrow for sin, give thanks for grace, and praise God for the times you responded in ways that allowed you to better see God's life.
(http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/prs/stign/ignatian_spirit.html)
I find this prayer to be an excellent way to become aware of God working throughout my day. When I pray this way at the end of my day, I being to see God at my side throughout the day. This reflection at the end of the day begins to permeate my day. I have practiced this more than once a day so that I do not lose track of God as much. In the early afternoon, I can get "unplugged" from God rather easily.
Also I have learned a great deal about the relationship between my consciousness of God and my conscience. While it is good to examine my conscience carefully by reviewing my day and what I have done - good or bad - I find that it is best done also thinking about how conscious of God I was at the moments where I did good or bad things. Invariably, my actions throughout the day are tied to my awareness of God in the midst of the day.
What is exciting about this prayer is that in 15-30 minutes, I can become aware of how my thoughts about God and my awareness of his presence affect my life, both in behavior and circumstances. They are not tied in a strict cause/effect relationship, but they are definitely related. The prayer of examen shows the "paths of righteousness" (Psalm 23:3) in my day through reflection, making me more able to see God in the present.
A shorthand that words for me is:
Remember God's presence.
Give thanks for God's words and works.
Ask for the Holy Spirit help in examen.
Go through the day (or period) moment by moment.
Respond to God.
Roughly, I see this progression in Psalm 119:13-16.
With my lips I recount [remember]
all the laws that come from your mouth.
I rejoice [give thanks] in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
I meditate on your precepts [ask for the Spirit]
and consider your ways [go through the day].
I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word [respond].
So another way to put it may be:
Recount,
Rejoice,
Meditate,
Consider, and
Delight and Don't neglect.
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