In a blogpost last summer, I wrote about the power of the Examen, a daily reflective prayer that lies at the heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola. It’s a prayer that forces us to slow down and pay attention, a prayer that ends with that most powerful of prayers: “Thank you.” It’s a prayer that St. Ignatius says we should pray every day, even if we have time for no other prayer.
It’s normally prayed at the end of the day and is a chance to reflect on the blessings, gifts, challenges and moments of encounter with God that we experienced during that day. But here’s the challenge I often face: I simply forget what happened during my day. Operating on autopilot as I so often do, the events, meetings and moments of beauty and grace get lost in my own busy-ness.
It’s at that moment of prayer—when I am usually trying to disconnect from technology and the noise of the world—that I have learned to do something a bit unusual: I pull out my phone and open my calendar app. A quick review of my appointments and schedule is usually enough to jar loose more vivid memories of the day and give me the opportunity to see my day and its blessings more clearly. I find myself remembering not just the entries on my phone but all the little moments in between.
Whether you use a phone app or a handwritten calendar or date book, here are a few suggestions for using your calendar to enrich your time of reflection and prayer:
- Place yourself in the presence of God as you begin. Relax and still yourself. Slow your breathing. Ask for the grace to remember your day more clearly.
- Pay attention to your emotions as you scroll through your day. How did your appointments and interactions with others affect you? What’s still sticking with you hours later? Ask yourself why.
- What moments drew you closer to God and which ones pulled you away from God?
- As you review the schedule of your day, pause to offer a prayer for all those you encountered. What do they need?
- Remember not only your meetings but what happened in between them. Were there moments of beauty and awe during a drive? A special song that came on the radio?
- Ask yourself: Where did I experience God today? Think broadly and remember that God can very often be found in the most unlikely places. We can find God in both the beauty of a sunset and in the face of a homeless person.
- Turn your list of remembrances into a time of gratitude, petition and praise. Thank God for the people, experiences, opportunities and moments of beauty that were a part of your life today.As for forgiveness. Say thank you.
- Flip the page. Look ahead to the next day and preview your schedule. With whom will you be meeting? What can you do for them? How can you pray for them? What do you need from God to make those experiences more meaningful and positive?
Without a doubt, technology can be a distraction when it comes to our times of prayer. Most often, we’ll be better off if we switch off our phones and set them aside. And yet, technology and other tools can also be gifts that draw us closer to God and supplement our own—sometimes faulty—memories and abilities.
Lord, how can I implement an examen into my daily life? Help me to seek you daily.
