My maladjusted friend asks the question on her blog - what do you do on a significant birthday? My suggestion would be to take some time to do an "examen of consciousness". You can do this looking back on a period of time, usually at the end of each day, but maybe also a week or a month or a year or a decade! Maybe after a significant event like a holiday. It's based on a belief that God is constantly revealing himself to us through our life and human experience.
Take some time out by yourself (or you can do this as a small group or as a family), light a candle, take some time to become aware of God's loving presence and look back over the day , taking time to think what you were doing at specific times, and ask 2 small questions;
"For what moment today am I most grateful?"
"For what moment today am I least grateful?"
Or you could frame the questions slightly differently;
"When today did I have the greatest sense of belonging to myself, others, God?"
"When today did I have the least sense of belonging?"
It's way of reflecting back on our day (or decade) and noticing consciously how we felt at different times. By doing this we can discern the ways that God is moving in our lives, how God has been present to us. What brought life - consolation - it might be small things like a child laughing or a sunrise (or a helpful doughnut person!). The things that bring us life and draw us towards God. It helps us also to be aware of when we felt further from God - desolation - a phone call or a conversation which left us feeling bad about ourselves or our circumstances, feeling disconnected from God. We might normally pass these moments by and think they are insignificant, but when we take time to reflect we can begin to see patterns in our lives. We can then bring these reflections back to God and ask for clarity or further insight. God speaks to us through our deepest feelings and yearnings.
Keeping a journal can help us to note the things which are significant, reflecting on them over a longer period.
If you click on the link here there is an examen, "Review of the Day", that you can download onto your iPod.
3 comments:
Good questions.......... may even get some time just now to do some of this kind of thinking! May need a retreat to work on the last decade. Think we should plan one?
Yes - that would be good. There's a great little retreat place just outside Bridge of Weir - now just need to find time!
I can still really see the benefit of this kind of approach both in individual and community reflection.
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