Welcome to Everything Speaks if You Listen with Jen CobbleWorks where we befriend our humanity and the Sacred through story, soul questions, and every day life.
In this week's episode, we explore the provocative, yet sacred invitation that our daily triggers can hold. We do this through the lens of the examen practice, of daily reflection and listening within. In the ritual of the examen, there are a pair of powerful questions that sit in the center of the practice. They ask us where and when we felt deep connection to ourselves and the Sacred, and were and when we felt deep disconnection to them.
Our minds often want to open up a moral courtroom and engage in dualistic, binary thinking when we encounter these questions. We want to assume that the connection (consolation) is good and the disconnection is bad. But this is only our surface response, our reaction to our triggers.
Self-reflection and listening within ask us to go deeper, to make space to let these questions sit within our souls, giving rise to answers in their own good time. When we reflect on our ordinary day, the answer to where we felt sacred connection and disconnection might seem meaningless because it's ordinary (like a trip to the grocery store). But we're being asked to see that great wisdom, magic, transformation and presence live within and beneath ordinary things.
When we make it a habit to self-reflect, we get used to making space for the ordinary to reveal its deeper story and truths. This helps us know ourselves and the Sacred more intimately and uniquely. And it helps us find meaning in our lives just as they are.
I use my Compassionate Card Deck as a tool in this episode. If you're interested in more information on these or to purchase a deck for yourself, the link is below:
I'm Jen Cobble Willhoite, a contemplative storyteller, spiritual tool designer, and life-long soul seeker. My path is formed and framed by questions more than answers. I'm more comfortable wondering and wandering about things spiritual than I am in ideology, religion, or dogma.
My soul language and connection with Spirit is primarily grounded in Celtic Spirituality, science, nature, seasonal cycles, myth, folklore, and stories of all kinds. I do have roots in progressive Christianity that I sometimes speak from. My tap root, though, is ordinary life. I believe enlightenment is rhythmic, unfolding, and found in our everyday experiences and selves. I also offer tools and courses on my modern interpretation of the examen: a daily ritual of looking back, looking within, and looking ahead to cultivate a rapport with your inner wisdom and the Sacred as you understand it.
Every week, I share an episode from my own spiritual explorations, offering invitations for you to explore these themes on your own. Thanks for journeying with me!