Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24
To “Know yourself” is good advice. But to know ourselves doesn’t mean to analyze ourselves. Sometimes we want to know ourselves as if we were machines that could be taken apart and put back together at will. At certain critical times in our lives it might be helpful to explore in some detail the events that led us to our crises, but we make a mistake when we think that we can ever completely understand ourselves and explain the full meaning of our lives to others. Solitude, silence, and prayer are often the best ways to self-knowledge. Not because they offer solutions for the complexity of our lives but because they bring us in touch with our sacred center, where God dwells. That sacred center may not be analyzed. It is the place of adoration, thanksgiving, and praise.
Henri Nouwen in Bread for the Journey (HarperCollins ebooks) reading for 22 March.
I needed to hear this. I sometimes approach the examine as analyzing myself, as Nouwen puts it, and miss the experience of knowing both myself and God in the process.
His exhortation that knowing comes from solitude, silence, and prayer is spot on. And David, the psalmist, shares the heart of the prayer in his words today.
As we start 2025, please make sure your examine includes this knowing that helps you connect with God and yourself in a deep way.
As Nouwen rightly concludes, “That sacred center may not be analyzed. It is the place of adoration, thanksgiving, and praise.”
Our generosity and service then flows out of such a space of worship.