As Georgetown SCS and the entire University prepare for a resumption of in-person activities in the fall semester, community members are experiencing a range of emotions about this change. Some are overwhelmed with excitement about the prospect of being back together, or “returning to one another” as one of Georgetown’s Jesuits described it recently. Others are filled with trepidation and worry, concerned about the continuing unpredictability of the global pandemic and how it might interfere with plans for “return.” This last year and a half has been a challenge, with the pain and suffering of the coronavirus disproportionately burdening the most vulnerable in our society. Mindful that the pain of the pandemic has been uneven and it continues to cause hardships throughout the world, all of us at Georgetown have journeyed in some way through significant uncertainty since spring of last year. This current moment calls for flexibility, creativity, community, and a sense of realistic hope about how we might transition to something new in the weeks ahead.
With SCS’s official return of the building to full-time operations next week (which was announced by Dean Otter in July), I want to share a special examen crafted by Catherine Heinhold, pastoral associate for Ignatian spirituality & prayer at Holy Trinity Church, the Jesuit parish just beyond the gates of Georgetown’s Hilltop campus. Catherine’s examen, which invites participants to use whatever language is comfortable to them, is titled “An Examen for Transition From the Pandemic Year.” You can reflect and pray through the 20-minute guided examen in one sitting or space out how you proceed through the stages.
The beauty and the brilliance of this examen prayer is that it helps us name our strongest pandemic-related feelings and pay attention to how these feelings are stirring us, moving us, and challenging us to consider some changes for the better in our daily actions. The examen is especially helpful for working against the inclination to be controlled by the most negative, desolating emotions that we are experiencing in the continuing pandemic. By naming challenging emotions and getting in touch with how they are influencing us, we begin to find more balance and more reflective distance so as not to be overwhelmed. By naming the positive emotions, those that console us, we make it possible to discover gratitude in our lives, even in difficult and uncertain circumstances. The examen is a helpful opportunity to pause, especially when it feels like the world around us is moving too quickly.
The pandemic continues to surface tensions in ourselves and in our communities. How to make sense of the reality that for many, but not all, this has been a time for healthy slowing down and getting into closer touch with the things in our lives that give us greater joy and fulfillment? I have heard many people describing how new work- and study-from-home routines have simplified their lives and led to more family time and more time for prayer, meditation, and silent reflection. It is important to remember that the journey has been unique for each of us. As we prepare for something new at Georgetown in the coming weeks, I invite you, with the help of this transition examen, to notice whatever has awakened anew in you, both consoling and desolating, in this pandemic year.