This article is part of America’s series applying Ignatian principles to election season.
You’re scrolling through your favorite social media, glancing at this or that headline that friends and strangers (not to mention bots) are sharing. Your eyes linger for a half-second, then move on. But moments later you find your blood boiling as you land on a caption about something a candidate said or did. You can’t believe your eyes! A new low! And this, from someone running for public office! Later that day, you hear 30 seconds of a speech and are transfixed. Surely this person will inspire millions and ought to be given political power!
Sound familiar? Then you’ve experienced what St. Ignatius Loyola describes as a disordered affection (affección desordenada) in his Spiritual Exercises. In fact, in describing the very purpose of his spiritual exercises, he writes that they are to help people overcome themselves (vencer a si mismo) and not make important life decisions based on wild swings of emotion.
Like many before him, Ignatius recognized that there can be any number of ways that we react out of emotion to things going on in the world. Someone cuts me off in traffic and I utter something my kids shouldn’t hear. Someone at work did a terrible job and I have to work extra hard; I’m irritable toward coworkers. Someone I love has left our home a mess, and I speak harsh words when I come home.
On some level, because of these emotions or inner movements, I have become alienated from the best version of myself. Later, when things have calmed down, I might even reflect on these experiences by apologizing to those I’ve hurt and saying, “I’m sorry; I wasn’t quite feeling myself.”
Philosophical and religious traditions over the ages developed spiritual exercises as ways to help people reclaim themselves in the face of self-alienation. In the West, to use just a few examples, Israelites, Pythagoreans, Stoics and Christians all developed specific practices that reoriented members of their communities to foundational truths and relationships that ordered their lives. The author of Proverbs (24:15-16) observes that good people fall seven times a day, recognizing that a person must be vigilant in the pursuit of wisdom, even on an hourly basis.
Ignatius drew from this ancient tradition of spiritual exercise at a time in his life when he was eager to deepen his commitment to Christ. He had entered the ranks of the minor clergy some years earlier, and so was already serious about living a committed Christian life. But in his autobiography, he also describes himself as having been given over to the “vanities of the world.” He sought ways to order his life so that his decisions might no longer be based in unruly emotions, but might instead be ordered toward the greater glory of God. The Examen is, for Ignatius, the fundamental exercise that helps us get rid of acting on these unruly emotions.
The election season is a perfect time to establish (or re-establish) this habit of prayer, since it is a time when emotions can run high because of the stakes involved. It is perhaps a healthy reminder, though, that for Ignatius and all the saints, the matter of a nation’s election is but a blip in the drama that is God’s work in human history. In what follows, I’ll suggest reasons why the modern practice of the Examen can be so important during an election season. I’ll abstract somewhat from the original texts of Ignatius, which embed the practice within the context of the Spiritual Exercises or the vowed life of Jesuits. In general, I follow the variations used by the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.
Presence and gratitude. I think of the starting point for all Ignatian prayer as the “first principle and foundation,” as Ignatius calls it: the radical conviction through faith that God has created us to do some good in the world, and that we ought to be ready to measure all things according to whether they serve God’s project over history. What, Ignatius might ask, is the good of gaining the world at the risk of losing our souls (cf. Mk 8:36, Mt 16:26; Lk 9:25)? Or of scoring political points at the risk of alienating people from the life of faith? The regular practice of the presence of God, and of entering into prayer in a spirit of gratitude, reminds us that whatever political power we want to claim—however hard-earned or precious to us—must yield in service to the One who has given us life, who sustains the world in all its complexity, and who moves hearts in the direction of the good, slowly and without coercion.
Graced understanding. In his Suscipe prayer, Ignatius asks God to take his liberty, memory, understanding and entire will, and to transform them through grace to see the world as God does. The Examen can be understood as a daily prayer that calibrates our vision of the world according to God’s vision. During the election season, it is good to remind ourselves that the world is God’s, and that human beings are to be responsible and loving caretakers of everything and everyone in it, especially the most vulnerable. Inasmuch as God “labors” (as Ignatius puts it) in all created things, our Examen prayer is an opportunity to ask for graced understanding. In what ways have our actions promoted God’s unfolding project over history? In what ways have they hindered it? In what ways is God calling us toward greater love and generosity? Greater creativity and willingness to cooperate with others?
Review of the day. Our usual media-saturated lives become even more flooded during election season. Unless we eliminate screens altogether (tempting!), we are going to encounter plenty of ads for candidates. Some may make us cheer, while others will make us furious. Let us recall Ignatius’ maxim not to make decisions based on disordered emotions, but give ourselves time to process the various experiences of thinking about the stakes in the election. What are we most afraid of? What is at the root of our fear? Is that root trustworthy? Is it possible that my emotions are being manipulated? Mindful of the research on negativity bias—that is, the insight that negative feelings are more powerful than positive ones—we might take time to trace the roots of our fears in order to unearth new insights.
Conversely, in our review of the day we might linger on experiences of consolation, similarly tracing strands of our gratitude, joy, delight, or satisfaction. How might we share these kinds of experiences, or be part of building a world in which more people can enjoy them?
Focus on one inner movement. As the election draws near, we might find ourselves circling around a particular feeling of what’s at stake. Perhaps it is positive: hope, excitement, optimism, contentment. Perhaps it is negative: dread, fear, disgust, sadness. How does this feeling reflect your capacity to contribute to what God is doing in the world? What insights do you draw from considering this inner movement through the lens of reason? Through the lens of faith? Is it stirring you toward some kind of action beyond casting a ballot? Might it move you toward some form of loving action in your world?
Look toward tomorrow. Elections are communal decisions about the future. They can be rooted in discernment, but they can also be rooted in disordered affections. History is a mixed record of progress and decline; perhaps the question for my discernment is which side I’m on. Am I willing to be part of a community that promotes progress over history, perhaps even amid evidence of decline? Can I ask God for the grace to be part of God’s project in human history, even within contexts of bias, prejudice and flights from understanding?
Finally, praying the Examen is important because it reminds us to keep perspective. As I stand before God, I remind myself that I am not God; my nation is not the center of the world; my opinions are fallible; my prejudices are often unknown to me; my political opponents are loved by God; our political leaders are also fallible; another election will happen soon. Even the person whom I have the most power to change—myself—sometimes remains a mystery. So I offer myself to God and ask only for the grace to do good in the world, in imitation of Jesus, regardless of how easy or challenging that is.
Read more:
James Martin, S.J., on finding hope during a time of polarization.
Quang D. Tran, S.J., on how parents can avoid passing election stress on to their children.
Joe Laramie, S.J., on cura personalis and making a mess before election night.
Chris Smith, S.J., on the presupposition and polarized family dynamics.
