hw-01-4

WEEK 1 - Day 4
Receptivity through inner senses

Introduction

The human senses are pure and simple organs of receptivity. Through them we perceive the world around us and receive into ourselves whatever we encounter. These capacities of the body have inner spiritual equivalents. Our imagination also is an organ of receptivity. This makes it possible for us also to see, hear, taste, feel and smell "inwardly" so to speak.

What does this mean for our spiritual life? Ignatius suggested that whoever focused their exercises on the message of the Gospel should seek to understand what they read by using all inner senses as fully as possible:

- with the inner powers of imagination see what is happening...

- with the inner ears hear the sounds...

- with the inner "sense of smell" breathe in what is going on...

- with the inner sense of touch feel as deeply as possible...

- with the inner taste buds savor and taste what is going on...

Whoever over the years has dealt with the Gospel stories in this way is able to tell them in such a way as to suggest that they were really present there themselves. One time when I was a participant in a directed retreat with a Jesuit priest, it became clear to me that here was a person who had received the events of the Bible so deeply that one believed he had experienced them himself. As a student of Ignatius this priest for many years had practiced living with the Bible stories. Now he spoke as someone who "has seen with his own eyes and touched with his own hands" (1 John 1:1).

It is good when the Biblical meditations we want to use are practiced first in simple, familiar situations. I invite you to practice this inner sharing by entering into on e of the suggested images.

Exercice

In your imagination lay in the sun on a warm spring day in a flowering meadow. "Drink in" the beauty that surrounds you with all your senses . See the colors and shapes. Listen to the noises. Experience the fragrance and the warmth of the earth. And "savor" these precious minutes as deeply as you can...

Variation

- It is winter and you are sitting in a warm room. The day is drawing to a close and you look out at the heavy falling snow...

- You glide down into the depths of a placid lake in a diving suit and find yourself on a blossoming meadow (fairy tale motif). .

- Your vacation has begun. You sit in a train that starts slowly and gradually picks up speed. For a period of time you let your daily world gradually recede into the distance. You "savor" the moment with all your senses. . .

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