Reflections from St Beuno's: A Prayer of Remembering

This was one of the spiritual exercises I was encouraged to do whilst at St Beuno's, and thought I'd share it, so others can benefit from it.

A Prayer of Remembering

Through faith, Christians know that God is present in all things, in every moment, event and dimension of our lives.

1   Take time to quieten down, in a comfortable yet attentive position.  Acknowledge that God is with you.
2   Ask for the gift of a deep, felt appreciation of how God has been present in your life: consider where you have experienced loving and being loved, when you have felt most alive, most yourself?
3   Remember the people and events of your life and how you felt about them.  Remember both the pleasant and the painful experiences; those that give meaning to your life and those that confuse you or don't seem to have a positive side.

Let one memory touch off another by association, not necessarily logically nor chronologically.

These memories could be of:

events of childhood, parents. school, brothers/sisters, grandparents, relatives, partners, celebrations, successes/failures, friends, lovers, communities, holidays, God's presence, struggles, tragedies, gifts, experiences of church, dreams, persecution, sickness, college, work, places, journeys

4  Be aware of how you feel as you end your prayer.  In your own words, say whatever you feel appropriate to God.  Can you end with gratitude?  Be honest!

Review of the Prayer:

After the prayer, jot down a few notes on what you remember; be particularly attentive to people, events or things you felt strongly about.  What were your emotions?  Did anything surprise you?  Do you need to pray more about anything such as: healing from sorrow, fear or resentment; in thanksgiving for joy or God's love; to see the patterns in life; for self-acceptance, for the needs of others...