This week, as we come to the end of the summer, I’d like to try something different. Below I offer three summertime vignettes. Think of them as scenes into which you can prayerfully step. They’re intentionally vague so that you can make these images your own, though I have tried to anchor each with a few flourishes of specificity.
St. Ignatius values memory as a tool for prayer, for recalling God’s many blessings and ongoing invitations. These summertime scenes are meant to aid you in such remembering. Choose one or engage all three. Allow God to speak to you through your senses. See what words jump out at you. See where God might be nudging you in these coming months.
Sweat and Sun
You hate being hot. Sweaty. Sticky. Skin prickling under the sun’s incessant glare. It’s uncomfortable to move. You feel sluggish, irritable. There’s an ungraceful thwap as your leg peels itself off the lawn chair. Talk about a summertime woe! And not just momentary, but all-encompassing — like stumbling through a steamy fog that refuses to lift.
You’ve been in such a moment. Certainly, this summer has had its share of boiling days. Return to such a moment in your prayer. How can this physical reminder of extreme discomfort unearth a spiritual truth? God often calls us to step into discomfort along our spiritual paths. But too often, we avoid it — or we get trapped therein, fearful that this encounter with discomfort is our new normal.
God calls us to keep moving. Call to mind that sweaty summertime moment as raw material for your prayer. What might God be trying to say to you about how you experience moments of discomfort? What might God be inviting you to as we look toward a new season?
Adventures Deferred
The summer bucket list was long — too long. You spent time at the pool; you visited your grandparents. You made ice cream and finally finished that crafting project. But there are three dozen unchecked boxes left on your sprawling scroll. And you never even got away, never got to the beach or the lake or that cozy spot out of town you’d been dreaming of. And now the summer is ending.
Do you feel stressed? Unaccomplished? Frustrated — with yourself, your circumstances, other people in your life? Or, do you see those untouched adventures as something else: a continual invitation into God’s great world?
It’s easy to become dejected as summer winds down, to obsess over all those adventures deferred. But this might also be an opportunity to practice Ignatian indifference, to let go of what you wanted and instead embrace where God has led you. To set aside any effort to force a conclusion and instead simply make yourself available to what’s to come.
Faces of Gratitude
You saw a lot of people this summer. You rekindled friendships; visited family out of town. You bumped into more neighbors on your evening walks than usual, and you even stayed out late at those weekly block parties. You went to concerts, cooled off in movie theaters and traveled to cities full of strangers.
Call to mind five faces, five people, who you encountered this summer. Who are they? Why do they come to mind? What’s their story — and how does it intersect with yours? Give thanks to God for these people. Offer a prayer for them as they, too, transition into a new season.
Final Images
The sloshing of the community pool, filled to the brim with playful children. The withering of colorful flowers against the overwhelming heat. The smell of the grass as the mower cuts through it. The chittering of birds from their leafy perches. The fluttering of a bat silhouetted against the early evening sky. The crackle of the flames in the fire pit, consuming the dripping marshmallow fluff. The twinkling of fireflies. The coolness of the lake against your bare feet. The happy flavors of a picnic lunch. The gentle, delighting smile of God.
