Friday, January 6, 2012

My to do list, Examen the next Day



Back in August, in the midst of silence at Wernersville, well, in the midst of the one conversation I had that particular day, my spiritual director gave me a book to read.

I may have said something like this... "even the thought of how it may be good to get ready for my 8 days of silence, did not bring me back to praying the Examen."

My spiritual director handed me a book by Jim Manney while telling me about how it had rejuvenated her passion for the Examen. So I read it. And what struck me was how I had always resisted/ignored/avoided the part of the prayer about examening the next day. So I placed it into practice, and now four and a half months since I left that hill top, almost every night I sit down and look at my expected day. I check off what I did, but also examen what did not happen. The goal for me is to list what I fully expect to do the next day: teach about momentum, plant marjoram seeds, consult with a colleague, listen to jazz, hope, continue on with the big mandala project, pierogies for dinner, e-mail this friend, lift weights, ..... As I examen my future, I ponder: which are bringing me the gladness of anticipation for the next day and which bring me reluctance to face the day...

and which have I been avoiding but keep placing on the list.

So I came home and ordered the book.  I loaned it to a friend, and now I can imagine taking it out to the Jesuit Center when I spend a night there in February, a fine time to get recharged with a second read

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6 comments:

  1. Funny how so many of us have such ambivalence about such a simple practice.

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  2. We gave copies of this book to everyone who came to the program we gave on the Examen.

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  3. Hey Robin and Michelle, the book helped me break out of my ambivalence

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  4. I have had this book for awhile and it lurks all around me. I came across it moments ago and then came across your post... *sigh* You duped me God and I let myself be duped, said Jeremiah and Fran agreed!

    Lurks seems a strong word, but it lurks in the way of God, pursuing us always. Like Robin noted, many of do have ambivalence about this practice. I appreciate that you said that the book helped you out of that. Perhaps it will do the same for me?

    (And it is also *funny* that I was lead to your post through a Google-y, link-y back door, but I of course know who you are via our mutual friends, Michelle and Robin.

    Thanks for this post.

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  5. Hello Fran

    Jeremiah may be my favorite prophet, so you are in good company. What's funny to me is that this post has been seen more than any other post I have written because the author of the book posted about it after Robin and Michelle were here. So when I saw there was a comment I thought "finally one of them had something to say, but it took a friend of friends stumbling here to leave a comment. May we all get help from God with facing ambivalence.

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