As John Chandler shared with us this past Sunday, we tend to shy away from internal reflection and dwelling on the people we are and should be. We’ve lost the art of Examen in our lives and the intentional practice of self-examination. Here are some questions to guide you in a daily examen or an annual examen as we transition to a new year.
Daily Examen
- Become aware of God’s presence.
- Review the day with gratitude.
- Pay attention to your emotions.
- Choose one feature of the day and pray from it.
- Look toward tomorrow.
Annual Examen
- What have been the high points of this year?
- What have been the difficult times of this year?
- What were the dominant emotions that marked this past year?
- How have you grown this year?
- In what ways have you not grown this year? Or even gone backward?
- Where have you seen God at work this year?
- If you project this past year forward, who will you be in five years?
- Who do you want to be in five years?
[Photo by Boots B @ Flickr]