Examen - 06 2025
Transcript
Welcome. For today’s examen on community, I would like to invite you to go out into your community. You could go to the library, the dining hall, a prayer space, or the gym. You could also do this in the middle of your dance class, or on a walk through the neighborhood.
Before beginning, attend to any bodily needs that may distract you. Fill up your water, maybe
grab a snack. [pause] Reduce technology’s demand for your attention by turning off notifications and pausing music in your headphones. Remember that whatever feels urgent will still be there at the end of your examen. You will be able to attend to it later after feeling more connected with your spirit. [pause] You can choose to settle into your examen for as long as you need, perhaps even starting to do so on your walk to your destination, slowing down to a leisurely pace.
When you are ready, begin to take some slow, deep breaths. In through your nose, and out through your mouth. [pause] Notice any heaviness in your body, [pause] and send some life there with every inhale. [pause] Notice any tension in your body, [pause] and try to release it a little with every exhale. [pause] When you are ready, return to a natural rhythm of breathing in and out of your nose. [pause]
Begin to bring to mind the bodily sensation of Belonging. Belonging. Feeling unconditionally loved, protected, nurtured, and at home. Try to imagine what it would be like for that feeling to double or triple in its cozy warmth and soothing peace. [pause] Hold that feeling as an image of the Divine present with you like a friend, and here to witness to your experience of community.
Begin to walk through your day, moment by moment, noting the people you talked to or passed
throughout your day. [pause] When your review brings you back to the present moment, begin to people watch with your friend, the Divine, the embodiment of Belonging. Together, witness your friends, peers, neighbors, and strangers. Make note of who is in the space with you, and how they show up today. Do they seem tired? Focused? Happy? [pause] How does your friend, the Divine, see and experience all of these people as the Embodiment of Belonging? [pause] Finally,
consider any people you did not see or encounter throughout the day. Is there someone you
usually see but didn’t? Someone you haven’t in a while? A type of person you almost never see? Someone who used to be in your community but is no longer? [pause]
Take a moment to feel or express gratitude for moments during the day in which you felt
belonging, took the opportunity to create belonging, or anything else that helped you feel more connected to the feeling of the Divine. [pause] Who is “in your community” that you are grateful for? [pause]
Then review your shortcomings. When did you miss opportunities today to support your
community by being kind, dependable, connected, courageously welcoming, etc.? [pause] What people, if any, do you treat as outside of your sphere of belonging? [pause]
Now consider: What prevented you from taking opportunities to build community? Or what
prevented you from personally feeling a sense of belonging? What would you need to be more empowered and secure to be in community? [pause] Where you are able, resolve to make a
community-minded change for tomorrow. And where you are unable to make change alone, ask for help, either from someone that came to mind during your reflection, or from your friend, the Divine. [pause] Notice how asking for help to overcome your shortcomings helps bring you closer to community.
In closing, sit in silence for a few more moments with the feeling of belonging; and listen for any truth that might stir up in your heart or mind.
November 06, 2025
Examen: Community
SUMMARY: Reflection on living and growing in community.
PRESENTER: Hannah Hinerman, Graduate Assistant, Institute of Pastoral Studies
Transcript
Welcome. For today’s examen on community, I would like to invite you to go out into your community. You could go to the library, the dining hall, a prayer space, or the gym. You could also do this in the middle of your dance class, or on a walk through the neighborhood.
Before beginning, attend to any bodily needs that may distract you. Fill up your water, maybe
grab a snack. [pause] Reduce technology’s demand for your attention by turning off notifications and pausing music in your headphones. Remember that whatever feels urgent will still be there at the end of your examen. You will be able to attend to it later after feeling more connected with your spirit. [pause] You can choose to settle into your examen for as long as you need, perhaps even starting to do so on your walk to your destination, slowing down to a leisurely pace.
When you are ready, begin to take some slow, deep breaths. In through your nose, and out through your mouth. [pause] Notice any heaviness in your body, [pause] and send some life there with every inhale. [pause] Notice any tension in your body, [pause] and try to release it a little with every exhale. [pause] When you are ready, return to a natural rhythm of breathing in and out of your nose. [pause]
Begin to bring to mind the bodily sensation of Belonging. Belonging. Feeling unconditionally loved, protected, nurtured, and at home. Try to imagine what it would be like for that feeling to double or triple in its cozy warmth and soothing peace. [pause] Hold that feeling as an image of the Divine present with you like a friend, and here to witness to your experience of community.
Begin to walk through your day, moment by moment, noting the people you talked to or passed
throughout your day. [pause] When your review brings you back to the present moment, begin to people watch with your friend, the Divine, the embodiment of Belonging. Together, witness your friends, peers, neighbors, and strangers. Make note of who is in the space with you, and how they show up today. Do they seem tired? Focused? Happy? [pause] How does your friend, the Divine, see and experience all of these people as the Embodiment of Belonging? [pause] Finally,
consider any people you did not see or encounter throughout the day. Is there someone you
usually see but didn’t? Someone you haven’t in a while? A type of person you almost never see? Someone who used to be in your community but is no longer? [pause]
Take a moment to feel or express gratitude for moments during the day in which you felt
belonging, took the opportunity to create belonging, or anything else that helped you feel more connected to the feeling of the Divine. [pause] Who is “in your community” that you are grateful for? [pause]
Then review your shortcomings. When did you miss opportunities today to support your
community by being kind, dependable, connected, courageously welcoming, etc.? [pause] What people, if any, do you treat as outside of your sphere of belonging? [pause]
Now consider: What prevented you from taking opportunities to build community? Or what
prevented you from personally feeling a sense of belonging? What would you need to be more empowered and secure to be in community? [pause] Where you are able, resolve to make a
community-minded change for tomorrow. And where you are unable to make change alone, ask for help, either from someone that came to mind during your reflection, or from your friend, the Divine. [pause] Notice how asking for help to overcome your shortcomings helps bring you closer to community.
In closing, sit in silence for a few more moments with the feeling of belonging; and listen for any truth that might stir up in your heart or mind.