De Mello: Reviewing the Movie of your day
“The postulate is that awareness alone will heal, without the need for judgment and resolution. Mere awareness will cause to die whatever is unhealthy and will cause to grow whatever is good and holy. There is no need to use your spiritual or psychological muscles to achieve this.”
— Anthony de Mello in Sadhana: A Way to God (ImageCatholicBooks 1978), p. 101.
I try not to read too many de Mello exercises a day in his book, Sadhana: A Way to God, but I find myself not able to wait to read the next installment! So, as I write, I am ending up listing most of the exercises as so helpful, especially exercise 30, “Consciousness of the Past,” practiced at night, where we think of our whole day as a film, unwinding the day like a movie, not approving or condemning what we did, just becoming aware. DeMello believes that if we are only aware, we will heal without the need for judgment and resolution. The finale of the exercise after observing the day is noticing where Christ was with us in the day. How did he act?
My experience is that when I become aware, God indeed heals, of course, much slower than I would like, however. This exercise has similarities to the Ignatian Spirituality examen at night. When two disciplines give a similar message, truth speaks to me. More about examen later.
I am going to have to stop describing all the de Mello exercises. Otherwise, I will go over his complete book! The miracle was choosing this book for all the wrong reasons. It looked thinner than other books on my spiritual direction list, and I hoped I could read it at a faster pace. Amazing how God works. The multiple exercises in this book are an answer to prayer, teaching me how to slow down and observe the journey, not rush through life, trying to read as many books as possible.
I now, in turn, share this God experience with you!
Joanna joannaseibert.com
