A quiet joy

There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.”

– Ralph Blum

Today begins another Lenten season. This year, as part of my ‘Tending the Holy’ spiritual direction training, I’ve been assigned a discipline for these weeks leading up to Easter: to daily do the prayer of examen.

It is addressing two questions at the end of the day --

For what moment today am I most grateful?
For what moment today am I least grateful?

My strong tendency is to pay attention to all that needs correcting, in my environment and in my self. The examen helps me notice not only what goes wrong but especially what goes right. And thus it brings me back to gratitude, and wellness.

Researcher Michael McCullough, a University of Miami psychology professor, asserts, “Grateful people are happier, more optimistic, more satisfied with their lives. They are more empathetic toward others. We even have a bit of evidence that grateful people are viewed as kinder, more helpful, and more supportive than less-grateful people.”
(McCullough & Robert A. Emmons, University of California, Davis; Dimensions and Perspectives of Gratitude, from http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/labs/emmons).

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks…
I Thessalonians 5:16-18

--
Some other questions to get at gratitude and thinking about your day:
these are variations of the examen questions --
[From Sleeping with Bread by Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn, and Matthew Linn]

When did I give and receive the most / least love today?
When did I feel most alive / life draining out of me today?
When today did I have the greatest / least sense of belonging with myself, other, God, and the universe?
When was I happiest / saddest today?
What was today’s high / low point?