Examen 4: Rummaging for God

That’s how David Hamm, SJ, describes the prayer of The Examen. At our house, my husband calls this the “everything” drawer. The place we tuck scratch paper, rubber bands, tape, foil twisties from the grocery store, birthday candles,” Get Out the Vote” pins,– it’s all of that every day stuff that we don’t know what to do with. So, we dig a bit to find what we’re looking for, sometimes it’s on top, often in it’s in the bottom or in the back corners. It’s the drawer in our kitchen that needs to be sorted on a regular basis. Dennis Hamm says in the Examen, we search and know God is in there.

…and I know that we don’t search alone but with the dearest of friends, who helps us sort through our loveable junk.  For God, ALL of it is treasure in our everything drawers. There is no trash. Whatever we discover and hold can lead us to become more loving AND join God in the work of loving the world – and everything in its’ drawers! Imagine all the junk that hides out in God’s drawers in this world! It’s kind of like “take your pick and start loving it!”

But first, we start by looking into our drawers, our everyday lives, sort through our memories in order to see the way God has been with us over time and in the present moment—in our relationships, actions, good things, challenges, frustrations, and feelings of today.