From “The Language of the Soul: Meeting God in the Longings of Our Hearts” by Jeff Crosby
A lovely reframing of examen comes from Marilyn McEntyre, a writer whose varied works of poetry, art, list making, and spirituality I have long admired and benefited from. In her book Where the Eye Alights, she offers the simplicity of her five-step daily examen (often called the examination of conscience) that has been life-giving:
- 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 forward to tomorrow.
“I love [the examen’s] focus on gratitude, on how one has responded to guidance and presence, on particular moments,” McEntrye writes. “It invites us always to remember that even in our ‘erring and straying’ we are held, witnessed, accompanied, and loved.