As part of our training in the Holy Order of MANS, we were given spiritual exercises designed to develop latent faculties in our thinking, feeling, and willpower. Just as an athlete has a workout routine, you will have an inner routine, one that will prepare you for the enhanced experiences you will have as you progress along the path.

Today’s spiritual exercise is called a Retrospection exercise. In addition to developing your ability to concentrate (please see our exercise on the Orange) you will need to begin to notice what you are doing and thinking throughout your day. Does it serve you? At the end of the day do you wish that you did something just a little bit differently? This Retrospection exercise will help you get a better handle on how your day will go tomorrow.

“Preparation is everything!” Follow the instructions for this exercise explicitly. They are carefully designed to give you results. So perform them carefully. The more faithful you are in their execution, the better your foundation will be. This exercise should be repeated daily until you are successful, possibly by a few months from now.

So let’s begin. Each night as you’re lying in bed preparing to go to sleep, say the following prayer (or something like it):

“O Lord, reveal to me my deeds of this day and show me what I did right, what I could have done better, and what I shouldn’t have done. Forgive me for my mistakes and misdeeds and give me the strength and motivation to correct them on the morrow.”

Then, go over what you did today in reverse order. Start with what you were doing right before you got in bed and then work backwards, touching on each event as it played out in the course of your day until you cover what you did the first thing that morning.

This shouldn’t take very long. The process should be matter-of-fact, leaving emotion out of it. If you can’t let go of the emotion, then give that to God, too.

As you do this, think of whether your action was positive or negative. If positive, bless it and give God thanks for it. If negative—something you either wish you hadn’t done or would have liked to do better—resolve to do better. Then ask God to take away and cleanse you of both the positive and the negative activities of your day. No attachment. Do your retrospection, hand it to God, and then go to sleep.

This exercise is very important for your soul’s development. Make it your lifelong routine. Also, please don’t discuss it with anyone.

Like, Subscribe, and Share!