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TUESDAY THOUGHT 10/9/12

October 9, 2012 on 9:43 am | By John Ingrisano | In Faith & Forgiveness | 1 Comment

DEAF, DUMB ‘N BLIND

I nearly missed it:  I have been praying for reconciliation with a person I cherish, but from whom I have become estranged … or at least our relationship had become stiff and strained.  The other day, with a simple phone call (missed, but message left), I knew that burned bridges were starting to be rebuilt … that bricks were being removed from the wall that had separated us.  Still, I did not immediately recognize just how wondrously wonderful that simple exchange of missed phone calls was.  A major prayer had been answered.  And I almost forgot to say, “Thank you, God.”

You see, though pleased, I didn’t catch the awesomeness of that blessing, that answered prayer, until I did what is known as an “examen of consciousness,”  a spiritual review of God’s play in my day, later in the evening.  As I consciously reflected on the events of the day, I came to those calls and my soul leapt.  I had to laugh because front and center each day in my daily prayers has been a plea to God for a solution to the estrangement.  And now, it is being answered … joyously.  Though I am sure challenges will continue with the relationship, the beginning of a resolution was/is a great, great blessing, one I almost missed … or at least nearly took for ho-hum, that’s-nice granted.

My point:  Take a few minutes each day not to just plop your requests and needs at the Lord’s feet, but also to see just how He is answering those prayers; and He always does … always.  Like me, you may be awed and amazed and overjoyed at just how He does address them.  – jri

“In the examen of consciousness we prayerfully

reflect on the thoughts, feelings, and actions of

our days to see how God has been at work among

us and how we responded….  The examen of

consciousness is the means God uses to make

us more aware of our surroundings.”

                    — Richard J. Foster (Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home)

I know that, more often than I’d like to admit, I am the poster child for a “friend in need.”  I am all over God when my head is stuck in the grate.  (That is a figurative allusion, thank you, though it did happen once.)  When beset by illness, financial challenges or just persistent irritations (like a recent, nasty case of Poison Oak that itched to distraction for weeks), I pray the prayer of lamentation:  “Oh, God, Oh, God, help me, pleeeeeeeeease.”  Then, when life turns good again, I wipe my hands clean, offer a clipped, “Thanks, God,” and go about living my own delightfully self-focused life again.  If I were God, I’d think twice or thrice before helping me the next time.  Thank God He doesn’t think that way.  Still, that’s one reason why I try to do an exam of consciousness daily, if only to remember to offer up a proper thank you to this awesome, prayer-answering God I am enjoying getting to know better and better.  Amen.

John Ingrisano

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October 9, 2012