By Rev. Shannon Jordan
Recently I preached from John 20 and Jesus’ promise of peace to each of us. We talked about God’s peace or shalom, our own personal peace, and the the practice of it in community.
I challenged us to live as if we fully believed that God is in control and that Jesus is alive and working in our world for good. I mentioned that the spiritual practice of examen is incredibly helpful in recognizing peace in our lives.
Examen is the practice of reflecting on our days in prayer and learning to recognize where we felt drawn closer to God and the people, actions, and habits that pull us away from God.
This practice comes from Ignatius of Loyola in the 16th century, who taught it as a simple, daily prayer for noticing God’s presence in ordinary life rather than formal monastic practices.
It became a core practice for the Jesuits, done once or twice a day, focused on reviewing experience, noticing inner movements toward or away from God, and aligning one’s life with God’s love and experiencing the peace of God.
It is now widely practiced across denominations for people who are working to be more intentional in their discipleship.
Over time, examen changes what we notice. We begin to see our patterns more clearly. We become more responsive and less reactive—enabling us to choose a path towards peace.
A Simple Practice
The practice of examen is fairly simple.
- You begin in a prayerful attitude. Take a moment to express gratitude for God’s presence in your day in a few specific ways. This shifts your perspective.
- Then reflect on your day. Pay attention to times that something stirred in you—what brought you joy? What drew you closer to God? What caused unease or discontent?
- Choose one of these moments. Instead of asking if it is good or bad, reflect on your feelings around the moment. What did you want? What might you have been afraid of losing?
- Then reflect on the deeper motivation. Were you motivated to find safety, security, affection, or maybe control? These underlying motivations to take things out of God‘s control are sometimes called the false self. They usually take us from a place of peace.
- Take a moment to invite God into these places. Let God take your sense of responsibility or your sense of need for control or approval, and lean into the peace that God has for you. You might say to God, I’ll let go of my need for safety, control, or approval.
- Then look through your day for places where you showed more patience. Where you showed more kindness. Where you were less reactive, and made intentional responses. Thank God for these areas of grace.
- Finally, take a moment to look ahead. Reflect on one way that you can be more open to God’s leading in this next day. Not as they should, but an openness to the leading of the spirit.
Please reach out if you would like to talk about this spiritual practice or another!