Reflecting on the New Year with the Ignatian Examen

One of the most useful tools I use when praying is the The Ignatian Examen, a prayer exercise designed to help you reflect on where God has been at work in our lives. You can pray it in about 10–15 minutes, and takes you through the following steps:

• Be still — still yourself and become aware of God’s presence with you.
• Relive — relive the day (or week, month or year etc.), noticing the things that come to mind.
• Least alive — relive the day, becoming aware of when you were least alive or farthest away from God.
• Most alive — relive the day again, becoming aware of when you were most alive, or when God was closest to you.
• Tomorrow — Notice what you need for tomorrow (or next week, next year etc.), taking the time to converse

We can bring similar questions to our work with children, young people and families, too. Why not make some time with your team this year to reflect together on the last 12 months? You might want to ask:

• What have been the key moments this year (positive or negative)?
• Where have the challenges been?
• Where have the victories been?
• Where should we go next?

If you want resources to help you do this reflection, then why not check out our strategy resources on the RNG web pages? You might also consider coming to one of our RNG Labs. We’d also love to hear from you, so why not get in touch?