Several years ago a trusted friend, Tracey Meeks, recommended that I take advantage of the quiet between Christmas and New Years (and also extending into early January) to recall how God had met me that year as a way to attune to what He was inviting me into with Him in the new year opening up before me.  She offered a simple and powerful practice drawn from the wisdom of an Ignatian practice called a Grand Examen to guide my reflection.

Being reflective in the quiet afforded by the break from normal work rhythms and the build up to Christmas Day was not new to me.  I’ve long found the change of years to be a natural liminal space akin to birthdays and anniversaries.  I also recognize in myself the lure to live in the hope of an imagined future that frees me from engaging any discomfort I am experiencing in the present.  So I ponder and dream and imagine what could be.

What this guided reflection added to my reflection was an awareness of deeper patterns of how God had been moving in my life, patterns I so often overlooked as I attended to the daily and weekly demands of my life and responsibilities.  I’m reminded of Curt Thompson’s encouragement to pay attention to what I’m paying attention to.  This exercise helped me pay attention to the deeper currents of God’s faithful initiation in my life.  For example this past year I was blessed to co-lead two grief retreats, two pilgrimages in Scotland, a Slavery Pilgrimage in Maryland, a number of Coracle Fellowship Retreats, and a Seeking God series.  On the surface this can look like a list of wonderful unrelated activities but when I step back I recognize that they all share a common thread:  providing safe, unhurried spaces for people to be met by God in the context of loving community.  This awareness awakened in me the resolve to want to continue to partner with God to create these kinds of spaces which have little to do with what I offer and everything to do with curating spaces for connection with Him.

God led Moses to institute ritual gatherings and rhythms to help Israel remember individually and communally His faithfulness to them in the past as preparation for His provision and care for them in the year(s) to come.  So much can happen in a year and if you are like me it is far too easy to forget to cherish the gifts received and to rest in the confidence that God has continued good for me in the days ahead.  His mercy and love are pursuing me all the days of my life!  (Ps 23:6a).  As Teresa of Avila regularly reminds me “All things are passing and it is God alone that never changes.  Patient endurance attains all things.”

This echoes Paul in Romans 5:1-5 and James in chapter 1:2-4 of his epistle encouraging us that the challenges we face are the fertile soil to cultivate the very perseverance we need to be formed into people of courageous confident hope.

So to that end I offer to you a version of the Grand Examen crafted by Will Hernandez, the founder of Center Quest, as a guide for noticing God’s personal invitation(s) to you to walk more intimately and collaboratively with Him entering 2025.  I encourage you to set aside 30-50 minutes in a setting where you can experience quiet and beauty, possibly playing soft instrumental music in the background letting your heart speak without judgment, hurry, or evaluation; to simply pay attention to what arises as you respond to the prompts.  Give yourself permission to not have to comprehensively recall every major experience of 2024 but to simply notice what comes present to your awareness in this moment.    This is not a test.  God is not evaluating us.  He is inviting us to linger with Him as two friends noticing over a cup of tea or coffee what we have experienced together.  I also encourage that you come into this time rested if possible.  Embrace God’s encouragement that all is well, we are not bound by shame, and that with Him we are far stronger than we imagine.  Receive and live into His desires for you which fully align with who you truly are in Christ.

One last personal reflection.  I have lived most of my life seeking to be self-sufficient which I now recognize is another self-protective strategy that cuts me off from my community whom I so desperately need.  God continually gently reminds me I am not alone.  Let this exercise guide your awareness into how you can receive the support you need to live into the richness of the life God is offering you.

The Grand Examen

1.  Look back over your year and pull out 3 or 4 experiences that stand out as highlights, turning points, landmarks or hard places.  As you reflect on these times, where did you notice God’s presence with you?
2.  As you reflect on the past year and the particular things that stood out to you, do any themes or patterns emerge? Are there places where you might notice connections or deeper meaning as you ponder God’s presence in the events of the last year?
3.  Considering what you have noticed about the past year and what you may be aware of God doing in your life right now, what might God be inviting you to in this new year?  What might be some steps you can begin to take to be in line with that?
4.  As you consider what the New Year may hold for you, how can you utilize the “community” to gain the support and resources you may need?  What support systems would help you to sustain and even grow in the areas God is speaking to you about?
5.  As you reflect on what you wrote for the questions above, what is your prayer for the new year?

(Adapted and revised by Will Hernandez, PhD, for the Leadership Institute, Orange, CA.)