Just ten minutes of spiritual practice won’t make you a mystic any more than just ten minutes of running will make you a track star. However, a handful of brief spiritual habits, engaged in throughout the day, can make a remarkable difference.
One of those brief habits is The Examen. It comes from Ignatius Loyola and his “Society of Jesus,” also known as the Jesuits. And the heart of Jesuit spirituality lay in two practices: Spiritual Exercises and The Examen. The Examen is a structured form of prayer and meditation. It consists of five steps. In about ten minutes you can move easily through the five steps. Loyola urged people to practice The Examen twice daily. I strive to engage in The Examen at lunchtime and during my drive home.
Examen 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 in this moment. You might begin by praying, “You are with me always, to the end of the age” or “You will never leave me nor forsake me.”
Examen Step 2: Rejoice (in the good things from God)
The second step is to rejoice about the good things in your life. Of particular interest are the good things in your life from the past day (if you are doing The Examen once a day) or from the past half-day (if you are doing The Examen twice a day). In this step, we remember and rejoice over the good gifts God’s granted during the past day or half-day.
One of the purposes of this step is to help reorient us during our day. As the day goes alone, if we recall anything about the last few hours, it’s often negative. This step helps reorient us. It focuses on good things that have been received today. As you identify these good things from the day or half-day, give thanks to God for them.
Examen Step 3: Request (enlightenment from God)
The third step is brief but critical: we request help from the Holy Spirit that we might be wise and discerning before moving into the last two steps, the most difficult steps. We are about to examine the past day or half-day with much more intensity. Before we do, we request wisdom and assistance from the Holy Spirit. We want God to lead our examination. We want God to open our eyes to see what he wishes to show us.
Examen Step 4: Review (the day’s highs and lows with God)
In the fourth, and longest step of The Examen, we review in detail the past day or half-day. Like an athlete watching a film from the previous game, we strive to allow the past few hours to play through our mind. At various points, we stop the film, investigate, rewind, and ask questions.
We are trying to review not only what happened in the past day or half-day, but how we acted, how we felt, and the motives that guided our behaviors. We are striving to notice patterns or habits in our day. We are seeking to identify specific situations during the day which reveal both positive and negative things to us.
It is important to attend to both the high points and the low points through The Examen. Those who habitually remember only the bad will be empowered to see the good. Those who regularly can only recall the good will be encouraged to wrestle with the bad.
Examen Step 5: Resolve (to live for God)
In the final step of The Examen, we move from past to future. Having reviewed the highs and lows of the past day or half-day, we now contemplate the future. What is God saying to me through the review about how to live the next day or half-day? How is God calling me to address the failures or the falls from the past few hours? How is God calling me to build on the successes and surprises of the past few hours? Are there relationships to mend? Are there sins to repent of? Are there tasks which need doing? This is a time to ask for forgiveness and for power to live in a new way for the next few hours. As we leave The Examen, we resolve to live the next day or half-day in light of what we’ve learned from the past day or half-day.
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