Before we begin

Observe the instructions below as you enter through the door

  • ·Laptop closed, every device off
  • ·Phones away, screens dark, headphones out
  • ·Let the room be quiet for the next few minutes

The work will still be here. Let us start somewhere else.

Who she was

Amma Sarah

of the Desert · 4th – 5th century

Amma Sarah
Icon inscribed “Saint Sarah of the Desert”. The scroll carries the very words on the next slide: rather I shall pray that my heart may be pure towards all.
  • She lived sixty years as a hermit in a cell above the Nile.
  • She fought one temptation for thirteen years, and never once prayed for it to stop — only for strength.
  • Two monks came out to humble her. She answered: “According to nature I am a woman, but not according to my thoughts.”

Today she is the one who refused to pray to be liked.

The practice

Examen

hands on your lap · feet on the floor · a slow breath

The examen looks back over real hours and asks what was going on inside them.

  • ·Bring last week’s work to mind — the actual hours you spent
  • ·Ask: for whom did I do that?
  • ·Notice what you find, without scolding yourself for it
  • ·Offer it back

Spiritual Disciplines Handbook · Adele Ahlberg Calhoun · Part 2 · Open Myself to God

breathe

“I shall rather pray that my heart
may be pure toward all.”

Amma Sarah · Sarah 5

The whole saying: “If I prayed God that all people should approve of my conduct, I should find myself a penitent at the door of each one.”

Amen.

Open your laptops. Let’s begin.