Spiritual Exercises Archives

Glimmer or God?

I’ve been hearing about ‘glimmers’ on social media lately. I’ve seen a few memes. And while I liked the thought of a glimmer as opposed to a trigger, I wasn’t happy with the advice to look for the glimmer.

You see, to me, a glimmer is not about looking for something good, but it is God breaking through, reaching out to offer us hope, grace, a bit of pat on the back that says, “I’ ‘m here for ya!” from the Lord.

Finding and Seeing God

What the world and pop culture call glimmers, I say, they are from God. God loves us so much that he does reach out to us. But we ran around in a noisy, fast-paced world where we don’t pause often enough to say thanks for the good things that come our way.

No red lights on the way to work.
Your favorite song on the radio.
A call from a friend.
What’s on your list?

This notion of looking for God each day comes from St. Ignatius of Loyola. I may have mentioned him a time or two before. This week, our Not Lukewarm challenge is to answer the question, “Where did I see God today?”, every night.

And if you are interested in learning more about Ignatius and prayer, sign up for my newsletter to receive 4 Ways to Pray with Scripture and learn about a new offering on the Spiritual Exercises coming up soon.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS | More

The Spiritual Exercises

Who is St. Ignatius?

Ignatius was born in Spain in 1491 and at 16 began serving at court and enjoying the good life of romance, fine clothes and gambling. He joined the army and in a battle in 1521 was struck by a cannonball to the knee and the trajectory of his life changed.

500 Years

This year is the 500th anniversary of that event and of Ignatius’ conversion to be of and in the world to a man who wanted to serve God alone.

Recovery and Conversion

During his recovery, he read the lives of saints and The Life of Christ. He realized he could live for the world or live for God. He chose God.

For me, the Spiritual Exercises were a turning point in my spiritual journey. They have helped me detach and learn to focus on what is important, turning away from the things that take my focus off God.