Posts tagged as:

family

My Day in Purgatory

by Tim Muldoon

I took my girls to a place called Purgatory Chasm and had a metaphor experience.  Metaphor experiences are of course those things you do which, once they are accomplished, emerge as perfect metaphors for life.  And I tend to encounter them frequently because I look for them, and that, according to my wife, makes me [...]

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Dinner Table Spirituality

by Tim Muldoon

It occurred to me just a few days ago that without thinking about it, my family and I were doing a group Examen at our dinner table.  I don’t know why it took me so long to recognize this fact, but now it’s obvious to me that one of the very important reasons families and [...]

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Spirituality of Family Life

by Tim Muldoon

There were two stone masons, each doing the same job.  The first, a melancholy man, was asked what he was doing.  “I lay stones,” he replied, looking sullen.  “Every day, stones and mortar.  No difference from one day to the next.  I lay stones, I get paid.”  His was a dreary life. His colleague was [...]

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The Examen with Children

by Jim Manney

The Examen works for children too. A blogger at Christianity Today’s MomSense blog writes about it. “The examen creates a rich tradition for our family of listening and being heard—which is helping all of us learn how to hear and speak not just to one another, but to God as well.” Go here for another [...]

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Ignatian Parenting

by Tim Muldoon

It is possible to bring an Ignatian perspective to parenting. My wife Sue and I don’t claim to be the best at this all the time, but the basic thrust of it goes like this. Taking the First Principle and Foundation (FPF) seriously means seeking to discover what kind of person God has created our [...]

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The “examen”ed Life

by Tim Muldoon

The fruit of the regular practice of the examen—or more broadly, the life of regular, cumulative, formative reflection—is living with greater attentiveness, greater readiness, even greater anticipation of God’s whispers. I felt it this evening, running an errand with my older daughter Grace. We searched six stores for an item she needed for a science [...]

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The Examen for Families

by Jim Manney

Blogger Cynthia Kirk proposes a way for families to use the Examen around the dinner table: 1. For what time or event today are you most grateful (thankful/happy)? (Initially, you may have to name a few things in a young child’s day to help them catch on to the practice for #1 and #2.) 2. [...]

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