My two-year-old lab puppy has a new habit. She kindly barks a unique, high-pitched bark to let me know she is about to get into something. Just this morning, she barked to let me know she was about to take a box of Kleenex. I heard her and walked over. She looked at me, tilted her head, and looked at the Kleenex. I said, “No.” She licked her lips like she does when I say it is dinner time and looked at the Kleenex again.
I pointed to the Kleenex and said, “No.” She laid down. She did not bother the Kleenex.
She’s a polite little dog.
I appreciated that she asked me before she chewed up the entire box. I like this new habit. I have no idea where it came from. Thus far, she has asked me if she could get into my daughter’s exercise bag (she likes the stinky shoes), my husband’s coat, a button on the floor that turns the lamp on and off, and my house shoes.
I didn’t teach her this skill. I just noticed it. But it makes life with her more fun!
She is demonstrating her trust in me with this behavior, and I’m grateful. She’s learning her limits in the house and somehow figured out that it is a good idea to partner with me before she launches into something (sometimes).
She doesn’t always do this. Last week, she discovered how to turn the space heater on and off with her nose. I had to keep watch over this new discovery to make sure she didn’t hurt herself. She did not ask permission — just kept bumping the button on and off. On, and off. On…and off. It got so annoying I finally unplugged the heater and moved both of us to another part of the house.
Recently, I taught a class on the Prayer of Examen. It is a prayer of discernment that has multiple steps, or movements. The first movement begins by inviting God to look with you through your day. You join Him in trying to see it through His eyes. As you pay attention to what comes up, you have the opportunity to pause and express gratitude for moments in your day where you noticed God, where you experienced movement into joy, or where you experienced a surge of life-giving energy.
It is a prayer where we learn to pay attention.
The next movement of the prayer invites us to notice places where it was hard for us to give or receive love, the moments we experienced regret, or where we moved into impatience, resentment, or got so busy we neglected to pay attention to God. We all have them. The beauty here is that we get to look at them with God, who meets us in love.
We have the opportunity to say, “I’m sorry.” We have the opportunity to experience the mercy and compassion of God, and we have the opportunity to go make things right with whoever we might have hurt. Our hearts soften as we receive mercy and discover where we can grow in humility.
The prayer closes by inviting God to go with you the next day. You ask for the grace of noticing His presence with you throughout your day and other graces you might need for the day ahead.
I find that this prayer begins in gratitude and ends in the gift of mercy, if we are willing to receive it. The invitation to continue in friendship tomorrow reminds us we are not forgotten or abandoned.
It is a prayer of trust.
As we pray the Prayer of Examen, our ability to pay attention grows. As we become more attuned to God’s presence, we grow in our ability to pause before temptation grabs us. Not every time, but with more frequency. It’s like learning to offer a little bark–sometimes–before we get into trouble.
It turns out I am more creaturely, like my little lab puppy, than I might admit to myself.
But my creaturely state is exactly what gives me the opportunity to let my heart swell with gratitude and give and receive mercy. It is all connected. I, too, can develop a habit of pausing, looking around, and asking God before I launch into something on my own, knowing that He is there and desires good for me.
The Prayer of Examen is a prayer of discernment. It is also a demonstration of trust in a God who chooses me as a friend.