This Ignatian Life

Ignatian Spirituality in real time
Subscribe

Finding God in All Things

June 07, 2010 By: Lisa Category: Lisa's Posts Comments Off

As Ignatian Associates we share the spirituality of the Jesuits and desire to “Find God in All Things.” At the very least, we hope to “Find God” at the end of every day by looking back over our day in our Examen and honestly recognizing where we were consoled and joy filled and where we were in angst and desolation. In those places, God was “speaking” to us in some way, offering love for us, even love within the things that didn’t work out as planned. Hind sight is truly 20/20. At our best, we “Find God” when we are fully present within the moment itself—be it at children’s soccer games, on the job, on a plane trip, anywhere, and we are fully engaged with how we are being called to recognize love in that moment. Ignatius stresses that we don’t need to be sitting still for prayer (although we all need times of stillness for ourselves.) Instead, it is in the act of loving another that we are truly united, one, with God.

And how do you “know” if you have “found God” in something, in a moment of your day? For me it is like hitting a hard reset on my computer; It is reconnecting to my mission, to that which makes me tick and makes me seek goodness. It is the self-awareness of seeing what is truly important and needed in a situation rather than just what I “want.” It is the moment of gratitude for what is, and the release of the angst for what isn’t. And in those moments, there is a sense of wholeness, of Oneness with Something greater than myself, with another person, or with the world around me. When I step outside of myself enough, at the end of my day or throughout the day, to momentarily name and celebrate that experience of Oneness, that is when I can say I find God in all things.

Lay on the ground under a tree on a summer day—you’ll feel the Oneness. Look another person dead in the eye and listen to only them, or better yet tell them you care about them—you’ll feel the Oneness. Do what you have been gifted to do and do it not for the paycheck or the accolades, but to make the world and lives of others better and you’ll feel the Oneness. Do the right thing, the ethical thing, hard as it may be, and you’ll feel the Oneness. Find God, seek to be One with Him, in all things, all experiences, all opportunities, all moments. Jesus lived this Oneness in every moment of His life, showing us it is possible to do the same.
So do you feel Oneness? Right now? Can you find God in all the things of your life?

Photo: “A Moment to Share” by Wazari from Flickr (Used under Creative Commons license)

My Prayer for Holy Week

March 29, 2010 By: Lisa Category: Ignatian Spirituality, Lisa's Posts Comments Off


Breathe deep. The hour has come.

Breathe deep again.

Imagine the deep breath Jesus must have taken as he climbed on a donkey’s back for the ride into Jerusalem, knowing the pit of vipers he was riding into.

Be aware of your own, tired, fearful deep breath. Where will your holy week pilgrimage take you? Where don’t you want to go, but somehow know you must? This isn’t about giving up chocolate for lent or meat on Fridays. There is a calling in each of us to be…something more, to face that which we deeply fear in ourselves, or to challenge the injustice before our eyes, knowing full well, in so doing, we will be inviting in pain, heartbreak, perhaps even crucifixion.

Breathe deep. I’m scared too. It helps that you are here with me. I don’t even know you or where you are right now, but just knowing you are reading, seeking as I am something more to this life, tells me I am not alone.

This week is the pinnacle of our faith. How seriously do we take it? Will we just go through the rituals this week, reenacting a last supper, genuflecting before a cross, and happily finding eggs on Sunday or will we truly seek to be resurrected people by next Monday? I’m not sure I trust that grace can take hold of me that fast. Were you to answer the first, that empty ritual is good enough for most folks, just go to mass and check the box, I must admit, my deep breath would turn into a sigh of relief. Whew. That I can do. But I would have to admit to some desolation in my heart—really? Honestly? That’s it? That’s all there is to be done to experience Oneness with God in this life?

But were you to take my hand and tell me from your heart “The hour has come,” my deep breath would quickly become restricted, short, gasping a bit. We seek to be a resurrected people and you can’t get there without going through the crucifixion. Your own crucifixion. My eyes would well with tears. I’m so not ready to be or do this calling. And I pray God help me.

And I find a bit of an answer:

When we have let ourselves go and no longer belong to ourselves, when we have denied ourselves and no longer have the disposing of ourselves…we begin to live in the world of God himself, the world of grace and eternal life. (Karl Rahner, Reflections on the Experience of Grace)

And in that, in letting go of my fears, in accepting whatever is to come from mounting this donkey into holy week, denying my common sense to stay where it is safe and just do what everyone else does, I find consolation. I don’t want to go there, but somehow I know it is where I have to go. Each of us has a “there”, a Jerusalem, where we don’t want to go, but we know we must. It will not be easy, but it will bring our hearts the Oneness we seek. This is our faith. Do we really buy it?

I find consolation as well, in going with you, in knowing that I have companions on this road who are about to face their own hour, whatever that may be for you. I will be with you as you are with me.

Breathe deep. Here we go.

Photo: “Via Delorsa Plaque” by betta design from Flickr (Used under Creative Commons license)

Rummaging for God.

October 12, 2009 By: lizivkovich Category: Liz's Posts 2 Comments →

Last night Fr. Dennis Hamm spoke to us about “rummaging for God” in our days. I like the word rummaging. I like rummage sales, I like looking for special deals, and I really like this new (to me) idea of the Ignatian style examen of conscience. He explained that the word for conscience in English doesn’t fully grasp the meaning of what conscience is- conscience being also consciousness, awareness, thoughts, events, and ideas, not just sins or feelings of guilt. I actually don’t really like doing examinations of conscience because I feel like I’m already living with the inner critic inside my head “That was stupid Elizabeth.” “REALLY?” “You just totally embarrassed yourself.” “What would JESUS do?” He (yes, the man in my head) says to me. I felt a little drop in my stomach when my Spiritual Director said “You should do an examen each night for twenty minutes.” That’ll be, uh, fun. But she went to explain what she meant, and this is what it looked like:

1) Ask for light : “Jesus, help me to see through the events of this day and know where you were with me, where I was with myself, and what I felt, experienced and saw that should stick with me.”

2) Look with gratitude at all the events of your day from beginning to end: Hmmm… woke up this morning, rode to the airport in Michigan. Got to spend time with my best friend Lara, ate the BEST QUIZNOS sandwich ever, finished Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, was in Minneapolis airport – I love that place! Home smelled like cookies and was so beautiful to me after three weeks on and off the road. I love snow on the streets and cold weather, riding my bike around. Home, thanks God for all the good and such a great home.

3) Find feelings that effected you throughout your day. Tired, hungry, back hurt, happy, sad to leave, happy to be home, safe. Very safe at the end of the day in my own bed.

4) Pray from one feeling. Thanks God for places of safety and rest. I want to find more safety throughout my work days, my vacations, my time with friends and family… I rest in that good feeling of being home and at peace and long for it more.

5) Pray for the events of the next day. Back to work after a hectic three weeks means e-mail. I hate e-mail Jesus, order my day, help me to pace myself, help me to retain a sense of being home and being safe throughout the day tomorrow.


Photo: “DSCF0262” by “pdgibson” from Flickr (Used under Creative Commons license)