From @austinseminary ... What to Do This Week of Lent

Written by professors, graduates, and others in the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary community, these reflections, prayers, and spiritual practices will take you along the journey with Jesus through the cross toward resurrection.

Day 34
Monday, April 7, 2014

Practices for the Week Ahead

These practices teach us to attend to pulses of grace; and to impulses of willfulness.

1 Distraction diary. Daydreams feature our programs for happiness—those things we imagine will make us happy. As you catch yourself daydreaming, make notes about the content of your daydreams. We are made for single-minded preoccupation with God and neighbor, and this practice helps us notice those things that inhibit our love of God and neighbor.

2 Ignatian Examen. At the end of each day, St. Ignatius instructed monks and spiritual seekers to recall: Where is God manifest in beauty, love, other gifts of grace? Where is God yearning to be more manifest in your life each day?

3 Centering prayer. Centering prayer is a method of silent prayer that prepares us to receive the gift of contemplative prayer, prayer in which we experience God’s presence within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than consciousness itself. Choose a sacred word as the symbol of your intention to consent to God’s presence and action within. Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly and silently introduce the sacred word as the symbol of your consent to God’s presence and action within. When engaged with your thoughts, return ever-so-gently to the sacred word. At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a couple of minutes.

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For the glory of God and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary is a seminary in the Presbyterian-Reformed tradition whose mission is to educate and equip individuals for the ordained Christian ministry and other forms of Christian service and leadership; to employ its resources in the service of the church; to promote and engage in critical theological thought and research; and to be a winsome and exemplary community of God's people.