Prayer for Life

The first and most important part of life’s prayer is thanksgiving, looking back in particular at the events of the past that have given you comfort.  What in the past period has given you joy, space, strength, courage, rest …? Take a moment to let that look, that word, that image, that music, that gesture, that idea … return to your eyes or ears, to taste it in your heart… This consolation, however small and insignificant it may seem, says something about how and where you experienced God. These small details are more important than spectacular events. After all, the latter occur rarely, or never. On the other hand, our lives are full of ‘banal’ occurrences. If you learn to distinguish God’s presence in these events, then you are on a golden path that offers itself daily and continuously.

Excerpted from Living with Ignatius: On the Compass of Joy by Nikolaas Sintobin SJ (p.49)