We’ve Seen It All, or So We Think

Praying the Examen and Leaning into Gratitude

Seeing Ourselves in Our Days. SJG photo.

“To be astonished is one of the surest ways of not growing old too quickly.”
Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette

Here in America’s Midwest, we are entering a new spring, although the mornings and evenings usually still have the remnants of winter in their cool breezes. Although we have just experienced an exceedingly mild winter, my practice of walking for physical and spiritual benefit has been lax and sporadic, and I am eager to pick it up again, if for no other reason than for the opportunity of putting myself in a better position to be astonished by unexpected glimpses of beauty in the world on a more regular basis. But the high level of pollens in the air and covering every outdoor surface with a thin layer of green has been keeping me and my wheezing cough and watery eyes inside. Hopefully this will subside soon, and meanwhile I’m mostly watching the outside world from my window.

Not paying close attention to what’s going on around us, refusing to be aware of the blessings and presence of God in our everyday lives, and not being willing to “be astonished,” as the French author of Gigi notes above, could all very well be the direst temptations we face as we get older. After all, we’ve seen it all, we think. There’s nothing new under the sun, so why pay attention? Another day is just another day if we don’t watch for something that will make it different.

So we settle into life, yawning at the sunrise, blinking through beauty of garden and field, ho-humming our way through all that we have learned to take for the ordinary and deserved. A meal becomes mere sustenance. The family visit perfunctory. The work of art only decoration or mindless entertainment. Without attention, without presence and purpose (our own and our acknowledgement of God’s) we risk allowing life to sweep over our heads virtually unnoticed. We live without gratitude not because we don’t care to say thank you but because we’re unaware of the gifts we have received.

It’s for this reason that the ancient prayer of St. Ignatius, the “Examen,” has become an important part of my daily prayer practice. It’s a prayer that forces us to slow down and pay attention, a prayer that can only end with that most powerful of prayers: “Thank you.”

Normally prayed near the end of the day, the Examen is an invitation to look back over our day and discover where we may have encountered God. It is an examination of our consciousness; a little different than the examination of conscience that we do when thinking about our sins and failures. This is a chance to review our day and take notice of what has happened to us and our interactions with others. It is a chance, before the day slips away from, to recall (or perhaps to see for the first time) where we encountered God. For when we do not stop and do this, we miss the blessings. We operate on autopilot and we just don’t see. We just don’t know. But when we stop and pay attention, we can begin to live lives of gratitude. We can’t say “thank you” for something we don’t recognize as gift.

A Moment at the Close of Day. SJG photo.

In its simplest form (and there is really no reason for it to be any more complicated), the Examen includes these five steps, and it can be done in as little as five or ten minutes:

Become aware of God’s presence: Ask for God’s help in looking at your day with honesty. Become aware of God being aware of you. See your day as God sees it.

Review the day with gratitude: Notice your blessings. Notice your interactions and opportunities. Don’t forget the ordinary.

Pay attention to your emotions: Savor these moments. Pick one or two emotions that surface and pray from them. Positive or negative, both hold meaning.

Rejoice, praise, seek forgiveness: Rejoice in the times you were drawn closer to God. Ask forgiveness for the times you resisted God’s presence and action. Thank God for the awareness you received, for the awareness itself is a gift.

Look toward tomorrow: Ask God to be a part of your next day. Ask for the grace you need to be more aware. Be practical and specific.

As Rabbi Harold Kushner once said, “Can you see the holiness in those things you take for granted – a paved road or a washing machine? If you concentrate on finding what is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.”


17 comments On We’ve Seen It All, or So We Think

  • Thank you for sharing. The readings bring me closer to God.

  • Always look forword to your writings.

  • Thanks, Mary. Trying to get back to posting each Sunday!

  • Just what I needed to read today! Starting a gratitude journal today!

  • Thank you Steve. You always hit the mark!

  • Yes Steve God is in everything even the very ordinary things of life. Even in the back garden if you look!

    Thanks too for this version of the Examen. I have seen others but this one will be cut and pasted into my journal for daily use. Blessings

  • Thanks, Steve! I try to do an examen every night, and have for several years. Yours is a little different, so maybe need to change mine a bit. It is good to be reminded again, though. Sometimes I fall asleep before I get that accomplished!

  • Thanks, Judy. I sometimes fall asleep, too. I call it “holy slumber!”

  • Thanks, Peter. Back to your garden! I need to see a photo sometime when all the work is done!

  • Thanks, Jim!

  • Gratitude is the only way….

  • Steve you are always timely with your postings. Thank you for this!

  • I have for the last two years, made it a habit to thank lots of things at home! I thank my light for working when I turn it on, I thank my fan, when I turn it on or off, I thank my computer for working, and for all it’s allowed me to do this day Lots of little things, but I want to be in the habit of thanking people when they do the least little thing for me! I get greatly discouraged if I forget to thank someone that did me a great service!! I really want to never forget to thank people, not matter what they have done!!

  • Richard McGowan

    Found your blog through Living in Faith and I enjoyed this and some previous posts I read. I thought you might enjoy my partners blog.. markabrewer.com. He posted every day during This past lent.

  • Thanks for writing, Donald. The art of “thank you” has been lost on many, but it is a powerful tool for living with gratitude and joy, and our “thank you” benefits both us and those who receive it. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

  • Thanks for writing, Richard, and for sharing Mark’s blog with me. I just spent some of my morning prayer time with several of his essays. Very beautiful and powerful writing. All the best to both of you.

  • Hi Steve, it’s been sometime. Hope everything’s well with you.
    Indeed, if we can inculcate this sense of gratitude for even the littlest of things,we would be able to rid ourselves of the destructive emotions of envy, anger, disgruntledness and a host of other negative forces. Surrounded by materialism and the need to be a ‘winner’ always, it isn’t easy but not unachievable.
    I have taught myself to thank God even for little misfortunes because I tell myself His Hand must be in it else it could have been worse. And it really helps!.
    While I have been told by our mutual friend, Anthony, about the Examen, I have not put it into practice all the way, just some of the way. Perhaps it’s time I did.
    Been keeping track of your musical achievements. Bravo! Well done!
    Keep well, appreciate your postings and God Bless you and yours always.

    Warm regards,
    Lily Lee

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