St. Ignatius For Dummies!

I recently attended a "What The Bleep" workshop at the Cenacle Retreat Center in Houston. Talk about a mind-expanding, mind-boggling, mind-energizing workshop. Sorry but I'm not going to talk about that right now, rather I'd like to share about the book I bought at the Cenacle. First, the back story.

The first night of the workshop about 20 men and women shared a little about why they were at the workshop. I talked about how this past year has been one of looking at questions about Christianity that I had stuffed in the mystery box, about no longer attending church except my Gazebo Church, about going all the way to the edge and questioning whether I even believed in Jesus and God, about how I had a 50th birthday kayakking adventure scheduled for the same weekend as "What The Bleep" but became convinced I needed to cancel it and attend "What The Bleep" and about how I wasn't sure why I was there but knew I was suppossed to be. I was brutally honest but felt I could be in this group. Talk about a bunch of kindred spirits.

Saturday night, we were having a popcorn social after the workshop closed for the day, and a woman walked up to me and said, "Your journey reminds me so much of my own. Thanks for sharing." My heart beat a little faster and I said, "Really, how so?" This lady was probably early to mid 60's and was raised Assembly of God, her father was the pastor. She told me that in her early 30's she walked away from the church and was out for 14 years. She said she simply didn't believe what they were saying was the whole truth, she couldn't stand to be in the church building, she had to find her own way. We talked for a long time and she assured me that I'm where I am is where I need to be, that this place is part of my spiritual journey. I felt like an angel had visited me, bringing me tidings of great joy. I slept soundly that night.

The next morning, we were all eating in the cafeteria and she came to my table. She told me that before she went to sleep, she thought of a book that might help me with direction. She asked me if I was familiar with St. Igantius and I replied, "No." She told me there was a book in the store there that was a simplified version of his spiritual exercise and she had found it very helpful. So, we trotted over to the bookstore and she hands me "Sleeping With Bread--Holding What Gives You Life" by Dennis Linn. I've renamed it "St. Ignatius for Dummies". The book presents the Ignatian prayer practice of the examen in a simple way. They suggest a method of self examination and reflection which can help us become more aware of God's presence and leading in our lives. In the evening you ask yourself two questions:
1)Which moment brought life to me?
2)Which moment drained me?
OR
1)When was I most happy today?
2)When was I the saddest today?

There are several variations of the questions but you are trying to get at what drew you the most and what made you feel awful because MOST OF THE TIME these feelings should lead you. They are places where God is leading. There are always exceptions to the rules but this is a general principal. The book expounds upon this practice and gives examples of how it has worked in the author and other people's lives. It's been very helpful to ask myself these questions at night. I find that two or three situations will pop into my mind and I have to really hone them to find which was the most life giving and which was the most draining. I am starting to see a pattern that I can use to "create my day". Oh yea, "creating your day" is something I heard about on the "What the Bleep" movie. Maybe I'll write about it in my next post.

For now....Carpe Diem!

Susan