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Recently I was the co-leader of a workshop on spiritual self-care. I based my part of the workshop on the practice of the examen of Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order. He recommended that the brothers examine their lives twice each day. I use the examen questions as interpreted by the authors of Sleeping with Bread, by Dennis, Sheila and Matthew Linn:
For what moment today am I most grateful? For what moment today am I least grateful?
They suggest other ways of framing the questions: When did I give and receive the most love today? When did I give and receive the least love today?
Or: When did I feel the most alive today? When did I feel the life draining out of me?
They suggest asking God to bring to your heart the moment for which you are the most grateful Breathe in gratitude and thank God. Then ask God to bring to your heart the moment for which you were the least grateful. Ask yourself what happened in that moment that was so difficult. Be with the answer without trying to fix it or change it. Breathe out fear.
This message is excerpted from “How do you renew your spirit during Lent?” by Kate Elliott from the March 5, 2020, blog of the Women of the ELCA. Today we commemorate Thomas Cranmer, Bishop of Canterbury, martyr, 1556.