NOTE: New episodes of Compass will resume July 9, 2025.
Feeling overwhelmed by digital noise and daily stress? In this mini-episode of Compass: Finding Spirituality in the Everyday, host Ryan Dunn introduces the Ignatian Examen—a centuries-old contemplative prayer practice that helps bring clarity, gratitude, and peace to modern life. Discover how this simple daily ritual can reconnect you with God’s presence in the here and now.
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Episode Notes:
The questions host Ryan Dunn adapted for the Examen are found in this article.
This article from Jesuits.org details the Examen for social media.
Related episodes
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This episode posted on June 11, 2025
Episode Transcript:
Ryan Dunn [00:00:00]:
Hello! My name is Ryan Dunn and I’m your host for Compass: Finding Spirituality in the Everyday… How about finding peace of mind in the every day? I feel like a lot of us are hungering for that right now. When governments are stepping backwards towards legalizing oppressive tactics and so much of the public discourse is aimed at setting people at odds and defining who is right and wrong… it’s wearying. It is for this Enneagram 9, at least.
I’d welcome a chance to mentally reset. In fact, I’ve been doing that, regularly, and I’m going to get into how I engage in that on a daily basis in moment.
But I need to note that it's June 2025 as I’m recording this. It seems like right around this time every year, Compass hits the point where we need pause and hit a reset button, so to speak. At least, we need to open up some time to blow off some of the pent steam, I guess. For me, this time of year is hectic with travel. In fact, right after recording I’m packing my bags and heading out to attend to some church conferencing. I’m not alone there, it’s pretty tough to schedule guests during this season. And while I’d love to supply you with some a ton of stuff to listen to during your summer road trips, I just don’t have that stuff in development right now.
So, offering you this mini-episode and then we’ll be on a bit of a break before returning to our regularly scheduled episodes on July 9th, 2025.
Thanks for bearing with us!
For this episode, I wanted to offer the contemplative practice I’ve been leaning into on a daily basis lately to stop my own anxiety spiral, interrupt my internal ruminations about fears and to-do items… and to instead plug into the moment with a sense of gratitude and an awareness of how the Holy Spirit is moving in my live on the daily.
I tend to be skeptical and empirically-minded. I don’t default into seeing the super-natural at work… and that means that I can very easily miss the witness of the Holy Spirit. This practice helps me open my mind towards that kind of presence in my life.
It’s called Ignatian Examen. It is a form of Contemplative Prayer.
Now, contemplative prayer is a form of prayer that declutters the mind by drawing a focus towards one specific topic or area. When we engage in contemplative prayer, we draw on a prescribed practice designed to heighten our awareness of God’s presence with us. In doing so, practitioners encounter peace by setting aside momentary thoughts and worries and opening ourselves to the possibility of hearing from God in the current moment.
Contemplative prayer sometimes starts with a word, a symbol, or our breath. It can also start with a simple question or two. Ignatian Examen is one contemplative practice that utilizes questions to draw our focus onto the moment and God’s movement in our daily lives.
Ignatian Examan comes from Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556). Ignatius was on his way to military fame when his leg was shattered by a cannonball. While he recovered, he read about Jesus and the saints of the Church. What he read changed him, and he dedicated his life to religious service. He spent a great amount of time in study and trying Christian mystical practices. He founded the Jesuit order of monks and compiled many of his spiritual practices into The Spiritual Exercises.
Ignatius recommended the Jesuits practice a daily reflection that came to be known as Examen (actually, he recommended they practice it twice a day). The Examen, often called Ignatian Examen, is a technique of prayerful reflection covering the events of the day. It helps practitioners discern God’s presence in the events of the day.
In its simplest form, the Examen invites us through five movements:
1. Give thanks to God for what you’ve experienced this day.
2. Ask grace to recognize sins and move on from them.
3. Review the day.
4. Ask pardon for the day’s faults
5. Resolve: what are you doing to do next?
An Examen for today
The traditional model is certainly meaningful. Those who are not immersed in Christian tradition may benefit, however, from some different terminology and points of reflection.
Are you aware of God in this moment?
What are you grateful for right now?
When did you experience love today?
Was there an opportunity in which you missed sharing love with others?
What might you learn from that? (Tell God about it.)
There are other forms of Examan.
The Jesuits recommend a form of Examen for social media. It goes like this:
First, recognize God is here. All things come from God; God is present in all things – even the darkest of corners of social media. Give thanks to God for the people on the other side of each Twitter handle and TikTok video, for each person navigating these feeds, for the ability to connect with people near and far in such innovative ways. All of these people are made in God’s image
Secondly, Ask for light. Ask God for the grace to see and reflect truth, beauty and humanity in all you do across social media.
Third, Pay attention to details. Each image, each TikTok, each prayerful request or unkind remark reveals something of God’s people and God’s creation. What needs, deep wounds or hurts do you see? Do you find yourself judging others? Who are the people being marginalized, cast aside or maligned? What needs do they have? On the other hand, what beauty do you see here? Where are people uplifting others, calling attention to important affairs or sharing joy? What feelings does this stir in you? Are they good or bad?
Fourth, Do I reflect God’s love? How are you called to respond in productive ways to what you witness? Are you able to in this particular medium? Do you feel pressured to nonetheless? In your own words and images, do you share something good and true, or do you tear others down or point only to yourself? Are you obsessed over clicks, likes and retweets? Do you share only to boost your own ego or brand? How are you contributing to a culture that refuses to take a “long, loving look at the real?” What feelings are you trying to stir in others?
Lastly Disconnect. God is much greater than your screen. Take time to encounter God, God’s people and God’s creation; do not let yourself become absorbed in the digital world. Ask God for clarity in discerning how to cultivate Ignatian indifference toward social media – in other words, to use social media only to the extent that it helps you praise, reverence and serve God and God’s people and creation, and disconnect yourself from it when it does not.
I’ll put a link to this social media practice in the notes for this episode.
As always, thanks for taking this journey with us on Compass.
If you’d like to dive deeper into today’s discussion, or check out more episodes, visit our website at umc.org/compass. There you’ll find detailed episode notes, resources mentioned in our conversation, and plenty of other episodes to inspire your own spiritual path.
We’d also like to thank the amazing team at United Methodist Communications for making this podcast possible—they’re the folks behind the scenes bringing Compass to life each week.
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Thanks again for listening. Wherever you are in your spiritual journey, we’re grateful to be walking alongside you. Until next time, take care and keep exploring.
