Begin with Gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Below is a reflection on gratitude originally posted on This Ignatian Life blog last year. Original post...HERE.

Recently I took some time out to renew and refresh my understanding of Ignatian spirituality. While I consider myself very much a newbie to all things Ignatian, it was good to recall and remember how the themes and posture of Ignatian spirituality have impacted my life in significant ways these past five years. Ignatian themes of attentiveness, finding God in all things, contemplative activism, imagination, discernment and gratitude have all shaped and deepened my formation and vocation. All this has inspired me to give renewed attention to these Ignatian themes and practices in my own life. I begin with gratitude.

Gratitude has a prominent place in Ignatian spirituality. The practice of examen begins with looking at your day with gratitude. The process of examen that I often use says it this way,  “Gratitude is the foundation of our whole relationship with God. So use whatever cues help you to walk through the day from the moment of awakening – even the dreams you recall upon awakening. Walk through the past twenty-four hours, from hour to hour, from place to place, task to task, thanking the Lord for every gift you encounter.” (1) In my experience with examen, I have found it important to begin with this posture of gratitude.

Too often my self-examination is critical and focuses on the negative in my own life. I am my own worst critic. However, as I prayerfully enter into examen, making space for gratitude provides necessary focus and directs my self-examination towards God. As I move into reviewing my feelings of consolation and desolation, a posture of gratitude provides the lenses I need to recognize God’s presence and gifts in both the painful and the pleasing.

The Spiritual Exercises close with an invitation of “Contemplation of the Love of God.” These instructions for contemplation also begin with gratitude, "I ask God to give me an intimate knowledge of the many gifts I have received, that filled with gratitude for all, I may in all things love and serve the Divine Majesty." Ignatius celebrates gratitude and gives it a foundational place in relationship with God and others. These closing weeks of the year I intend to practice the examen regularly. I look forward to the space it will provide to not only recognize God’s gifts and grace in my life, but also joyfully respond in worship and thanksgiving.

(1) “Rummaging for God: Praying Backward Through Your Day,” Dennis Hamm (America: The National Catholic Weekly, May 14, 1994). 
(http://ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-examen/rummaging-for-god-praying-backward-through-your-day/)