Prayer In Daily Life, Phase 1, Week 2, Exercise 2: Repetition of The First Principle And Foundation

This Exercise should be completed between November 16 and November 19.

In an essay on the First Principle (also called the Fundamentum), Fr. Joseph Tetlow, S.J., writes that behind the first principle of Ignatius lies a religious experience—the experience that Ignatius had as he meditated on the bank of the Cardoner River near Manresa. What happened by the Cardoner? As he sat praying, he suddenly experienced enlightenment that he had difficulty putting into words. His enlightenment was that God was in the world, constantly creating. Ignatius sensed how all things come from and return to God, and he realized that he and the entire universe were being created moment by moment. God was creating him by infusing specific thoughts and desires into his heart and mind. Fr. Tetlow continues by explaining that God creates us using all of our reality, including the raw material of poorly made decisions. (All of these insights are relevant for all people. You do not have to be Christian to engage in this Exercise).

The desires that God infuses into our hearts lead us to freedom and foster the freedom of others. How do we know which thoughts and desires come from God? Those thoughts and desires are consoling: they foster creativity, lead us to empathize with others, and free our minds of emotional clutter. Desolate thoughts and feelings foster resentment, hatred, selfishness, and despair. What an enlightenment Ignatius had! To follow God then is simply a matter of knowing the direction of our thoughts and feelings. If our thoughts and feelings foster resentment and hatred, we need to drop them. If our thoughts and feelings foster empathy for others (including ourselves), we should act on them.

(Although Ignatius did not write extensively about empathy for oneself, modern psychologists and spiritual directors have added this emphasis. Even the ancient Aristotle was aware of the need to care for oneself in relationships. A dear friend of mine has occasionally reminded me that because my self is the “first gift God has given me,” I should take care of myself. It is possible for a manipulative person who abuses power to demand empathy for him over against healthy self-caring of yourself. That is not what Ignatius means by empathy. Empathy for such spiritual vampires is a tricky business. This is where contemporary translations of Ignatius’ definition of consolation and desolation are relevant. It is also healthy spirituality to simply avoid toxic personalities until they undergo some kind of conversion.)

We can summarize what we have discussed thus far by paraphrasing the first principle: Human beings are being (present tense being!) created to praise, reverence, and serve God by God who is creating them by infusing creative, charitable, and just desires into our hearts and minds. We fulfill our purpose in life by acting on these consoling thoughts. We stray from our purpose of being loving by acting on resentful, self-pitying, self-destructive, or selfish thoughts.

At this point, it is helpful for us to introduce Ignatius’ definition of consolation and desolation. Once again, we find that there are classical definitions and contemporary translations.

First, the classical definitions, which are overtly Christian, taken from St. Ignatius’ Rules for Discernment:

Third Rule. The third: OF SPIRITUAL CONSOLATION. I call it consolation when some interior movement in the soul is caused, through which the soul comes to be inflamed with love of its Creator and Lord; and when it can in consequence love no created thing on the face of the earth in itself, but in the Creator of them all. Likewise, when it sheds tears that move to love of its Lord, whether out of sorrow for one's sins, or for the Passion of Christ our Lord, or because of other things directly connected with His service and praise. Finally, I call consolation every increase of hope, faith and charity, and all interior joy which calls and attracts to heavenly things and to the salvation of one's soul, quieting it and giving it peace in its Creator and Lord.

Fourth Rule. The fourth: OF SPIRITUAL DESOLATION. I call desolation all the contrary of the third rule, such as darkness of soul, disturbance in it, movement to things low and earthly, the unquiet of different agitations and temptations, moving to want of confidence, without hope, without love, when one finds oneself all lazy, tepid, sad, and as if separated from his Creator and Lord. Because, as consolation is contrary to desolation, in the same way the thoughts which come from consolation are contrary to the thoughts which come from desolation.

Second, a contemporary translation, which applies to all people, from Margaret Silf’s book Inner Compass (an excellent introduction to Ignatian Spirituality, p 52):

Desolation:
• Turns us in on ourselves
• Drives us down the spiral ever deeper into our own negative feelings
• Cuts us off from community
• Makes us want to give up on things that used to be important to us
• Takes over our whole consciousness and crowds out our distant vision
• Covers up all of our [spiritual] landmarks
• Drains us of energy

Consolation:
• Directs our focus outside and beyond ourselves.
• Lifts our hearts so that we can see the joys and sorrows of other people.
• Bonds us more closely to our human community.
• Generates new inspiration and ideas
• Restores balance and refreshes our inner vision.
• Shows us where God is active in our lives and where he is leading us
• Releases new energy in us.

Take 10-15 minutes and review the previous 24 hours with these definitions of consolation and desolation. When did you feel desolate? When did you feel consoled?

How does the truth that God is creating you from the material of your life, even from bad decisions, make you feel? What gives you greatest hope? What feelings and thoughts are leading you to freedom? Which are moving you to work for the freedom of others?

It is helpful for you to re-read these definitions as we move into the next weeks of prayer, to take notes about your consolation and desolation, and to try to notice patterns to your movements of consolation and desolation.