I recently heard a reasonably good working definition of resilience: the ability to not be affected by or quickly recover from buffeting, disturbances, and so on. That definition put me put me in mind of walking through a forest. If you have ever walked through a forest where there are no trails, you know how hard is it to walk in a straight line. We are easily affected by “buffeting and disturbances.” We start off walking due north, and before we know it, we are off in a completely different direction. A fallen tree or a boulder blocking our way nudges us subtly off course. Traversing a slope drags us off to the left or right as we walk across it. Finding a place to cross a stream leads us further away from our intended course. We put our heads down to shield our faces from a blowing rain and soon we are hopelessly lost. Our sense of direction and our ability to walk in a straight line is notoriously not resilient!
A compass can save the day for us, but only if we use it! And we must use it nearly constantly; we must know we are off course as close as possible to when it happens. The longer we trudge ahead without checking our bearing, assuming that we are holding our course reasonably well, the more likely we are to become lost. It would be folly to set your course and then check your compass only after an obvious challenge, buffeting, or disturbance. There are too many subtle variations in our direction; you would stand very little chance of ending up where you set out for.
For Christians, the in-dwelling spirit of Christ is our compass. We set our course to follow Jesus’ way. As John Mark Comer teaches, the true north of a disciple is to spend time with Jesus, become like him, and do what he did.1 The world around us is our primordial forest. Social media algorithms, twenty-four hour news cycles, and the constant pressure to do more and be more all buffet us and disturb our way. If we go very far at all with out consulting our “compass” we will soon be far off our intended course. We need to constantly look to God in prayer to see if we are still true to our course.
Nearly five hundred years ago Ignatius of Loyola described a daily prayer method, the Examen, that helps us learn to consult our “compass” at least daily. You will find many descriptions of the Examen on line,2 and at its core, the Examen includes:
- Quieting yourself so that you can be more receptive to hearing God’s voice.
- Recognizing that your day is a gift, and giving thanks accordingly
- Allowing Holy Spirit to guide you as you reflect on your day
- Assessing the thoughts, moods, and actions that drew us closer God or seemed to push away from God.
- Asking God to help you navigate the challenges of the next day.
Most people pray the Examen daily and many pray it twice a day. But as Jim Manney points out in his book, “A Simple, Life-Changing Prayer: Discovering the Power of St. Ignatius Loyola’s Examen,” the ultimate fruit of a consistent practice of praying the Examen is to become people who are constantly aware of how they are being subtly pulled off course. We can become like people who always have their compass in hand, always checking and knowing the way we should be going.
We can become spiritually resilient in a disruptive world. If we learn to frequently check our spiritual compass, then when we are buffeted or disturbed in our following the way of Jesus, we can quickly get back on course.
- www.practicingtheway.org/ ↩︎
- A great starting point is: https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-examen ↩︎
From Pops' Workshop 
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