Each Saturday during Lent, we will take some time as a church family to practice a different spiritual discipline or spiritual practice together. Today, we are practicing the Examen with Joran Weitzer.
What is the Examen?
This week, we are practicing a spiritual discipline that dates back centuries, something that our brothers and sisters have engaged with over the years in order to reflect on where they’ve seen God’s presence over a period of time. This practice is called a Prayer of Examen.
The Examen is usually a daily practice of prayerful reflection on the events of the day in order to detect God’s presence and discern His direction for us. For the sake of this devotional, we are going to practice a Lenten Examen, where we will prayerfully reflect on the past 6 weeks in order to see where God has been at work in each of our lives during Lent, and to discern what He is calling us to this Easter season.
So, settle into a comfortable position. If you process through writing or drawing, grab a pen/pencil and paper. Take a few deep breaths, and allow yourself a few minutes to put aside distractions. This could be silencing your phone, gathering all of those stray thoughts or worries about the day, or perhaps other people in your household. Whatever it takes, place yourself physically and mentally where you can truly focus on God.
How to Practice The Examen:
Now, let’s walk through our Examen. Reflect on these questions in light of the past six weeks of Lent:
- In this Lenten season, what has been happening to you personally?
- In this Lenten season, where have you experienced the greatest sense of shalom (peace, contentment, wholeness, redemption, beauty, etc.)?
- Call to mind two or three things that you are grateful for. Write them down and thank God for them.
- Where have you experienced the most desolation (preoccupation, depression, anxiety, etc.)?
- In this Lenten season, where have you most experienced the presence of God? Where did you notice Him? In what people, places, and events did you encounter God?
- Take your time and just “notice.”
- How has your image of God changed, matured, or been challenged over the past six weeks?
- Name the three most important spiritual take-a-ways from the Lent 2024 that you never want to forget.
Led by Joran Weitzer
Caring for Your Plant
WHAT’S NEXT?
Look back at this Lenten season and the journey you have taken with your plant. How did you find that plant care connected to your devotionals? Were you able to use those quiet moments of watering and pruning to reflect on the lessons you are learning? Did tending to such a small piece of creation help you see the connections between us and God’s great natural world? What did you learn about yourself during this time, and what did plant care teach you about caring for creation?
Through your reflections, spend some time wondering—what is next for your plant? Is your propagation ready to give to a friend? Maybe you’d like to bless someone with the mother plant. Does it need a bigger pot? Perhaps you’ve been inspired to start a garden or care for creation through a park clean-up or the Milwaukee Riverkeeper cleanup in April! As you were entrusted with caring for this plant, so are we entrusted with caring for God’s creation. How can we tend to that “garden” in a way that reflects how God tends to us? Whatever the next step is for you and your plant, I pray that your time spent doing plant care has been blessed with reflection and growth. And don’t forget, if the top inch or so of your plant’s soil is dry, give it some water.
Led by Juliann Roedl
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