Though I read them for the first time many years ago, the opening lines in Richard Foster’s classic on spiritual development refuse to untangle themselves from the web of my mind: “Superficiality is the curse of our age…The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people.”[i] In important ways, this is a summary of Jesus’ compelling call. He invites us out of a life of spiritual superficiality and into one of spiritual depth. He demands we exchange a spirituality of inches for one without measure.
This theme takes center stage in Jesus’ teaching on piety in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 6:1-18) and again in Jesus’ follow-up sermon in Matt. 23. Three times in Matt. 6:1-18 Jesus warns against practicing piety before others for their applause. Seven times in Matt. 23 Jesus warns against masquerading as spiritual people in order to gain respect and status. In Matt. 6:1-18 Jesus calls for a piety which is practiced in private rather than performed for the public. In Matt. 23 Jesus demands a spirituality which doesn’t just look attractive on our outside but also labors aggressively on our inside.
One spiritual practice uniquely suited to moving beyond the superficial in our walk with the Father is The Examen. The Examen was introduced by Ignatius Loyola.
Ignatius Loyola
Born in 1491, Loyola was one of thirteen children in a family of minor nobility in northern Spain. As a youngster, Loyola was inspired by the ideals of knighthood. He day-dreamed of doing epic and heroic deeds. Then in 1521, while fighting in a battle against the French, Loyola was gravely wounded. During a long recovery, he filled the time reading about the life of Jesus and about the lives of those who followed Jesus. These stories deeply affected Loyola. He no longer simply dreamed of doing heroic deeds. He dreamed of doing heroic deeds—for God. He was stirred by the examples of holy ones like Francis of Assisi who abandoned themselves wholly to God. Thus, after healing from his wounds, Loyola determined to follow the steps of the most devout believers in Jesus. He would practice a radical and deep form of discipleship.
Loyola recruited a small group with similar visions—people not satisfied with the shallow or superficial regarding their spirituality. Together they formed the “Society of Jesus,” also known as the Jesuits. And to fuel a faith that would be intense and all-consuming, the Jesuits embraced two core practices. Loyola believed the Holy Spirit could use these two disciplines to bring substantial depth to their spirituality: the Spiritual Exercises and the Examen.
Through research of spiritual masters and through his own trial-and-error experiences in coaching others in spiritual growth, Loyola began collecting the best-of-the-best prayers, meditations, and spiritual practices. He combined these into the Spiritual Exercises. Loyola then crafted a thirty-day retreat during which people interested in substantial spiritual growth would experience the Spiritual Exercises. It was a “boot camp” designed to deepen one’s piety.
The second core practice of the Jesus Society was the Examen. If the Spiritual Exercises were the booster rockets designed to get piety off the launch pad, the Examen was the ongoing source of fuel needed to propel faith day by day. The Examen was a structured form of prayer which Loyola urged people to practice at least twice daily.
The Examen consists of five steps. For simplicity’s sake, I’ve reduced their number and rewritten their titles. In this way they are more easily memorized and internalized. You can progress through the four phases in about ten minutes. Conducted twice a day (e.g., noon and nighttime), the Examen will intensify and deepen your connection to Christ and the Father.
Step 1: Recognize (the presence of God)
The first step in the Examen is to recognize that you are in the presence of God. While we are always in God’s presence, the Examen begins with an intentional remembering that God is present at this very moment. Frankly, during a typical day we often forget God. The Examen is a systematic way to bring God back to mind at key moments.
This first step is an attempt to embrace the reality of the following passages:
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? (Ps. 139:7 ESV)
And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt. 28:20 ESV)
26And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’ (Acts 17:26-28 ESV).
5Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Heb. 13:5 ESV)
The first step in the Examen is to recognize the presence of God. This might be done by spending a few moments in silence or by reading a few texts like the ones above or by praying for God to help you know that he is with you right now.
Step 2: Request (enlightenment from God)
In the second step we request enlightenment from God and his Spirit. Specifically, we ask God to fill us with wisdom and discernment as we move into the next step of the Examen. There, we will be reviewing a portion of our day. We wish to conduct this review with an eyesight and insight only God can grant. Knowing that in our weaknesses we are likely to miss something God wishes us to see, we now request that God, through his Spirit, opens our eyes and our hearts.
In step 2, we are putting the following promises to the test:
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. (James 1:5 ESV)
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. (Matt. 7:7-8 ESV).
We implore God to illuminate the way. We put on his glasses before reading the “script” of a prior portion of our day.
[image]
[i] Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline Revised Edition (Harper & Row, 1978), 1.
