The Imitation Of Christ IV
Michael Kroth • February 21, 2020
Examine Your Conscience
“Keep a good conscience and you will always have joy.”
~Thomas ¬ā Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, p. 59
Definition of conscience
1a: the sense or consciousness of the moral goodness or blameworthiness of one's own conduct, intentions, or character together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good. //She had a guilty conscience.
b: a faculty, power, or principle enjoining good acts. //guided by conscience
c: the part of the superego in psychoanalysis that transmits commands and admonitions to the ego
2: conformity to what one considers to be correct, right, or morally good: CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
3: sensitive regard for fairness or justice: SCRUPLE. // a wealthy man with no conscience
“Conscience.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster,
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conscience. Accessed 20 Feb. 2020.
Maybe I missed it, but in my Protestant, Methodist upbringing I don’t remember being taught to “examine my conscience” on a regular basis. Sure, if I did something wrong and wouldn’t ‘fess up, my mom (usually) would call on me to consider my sense of right and wrong. And there have been many times in my life when I had to look deep into my conscience in order to try to figure out the right action to take, or to wonder how I’d missed checking my conscience before committing a wrong action. My denomination is not a “confessing” church, that is, we don’t confess our sins to a priest or minister as an expected, regular duty. I vaguely remember saying prayers at night before going to bed, but I’m not at all sure how often that occurred or what might have been relayed to On High, or the response. I don’t remember my parents saying prayers on a regular basis. Not that they didn’t - I don’t know, but most public, family prayers were saved for ceremonial occasions, like just prior to diving into dinner on Thanksgiving Day. I don’t remember being taught conscience in school, either. Even though conservative values were part of the fabric of my Kansas upbringing, those were the days before programs like “Character Counts”.
But to examine
my “conscience” as a regular practice? Even daily? Proactively, preventatively, restoratively?
Not even close. My conscience was much more likely to operate on auto-pilot, set in gear as a child watching parents and teachers and farmers and and coaches and friends. I had a conscience, I felt bad when doing something ‘bad’ and good when doing something “good”, but to consciously and conscientiously continue cultivating conscience day-by-day-by-day-by-day?
Hardly.
Sadly.
After I began learning more about Catholicism, and was introduced to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, and happened upon my battered copy of The Imitation of Christ,
I began to think more, and more thoughtfully, about virtues and how one might develop a more virtuous life. As in all matters profound, there are practices which enable folks to develop depth over time. To imitate
Christ takes a lifetime of intention, never to reach perfection and not even close.
But if one were to have a checklist of virtues like generosity, humility, and gratitude, (kind of like Benjamin Franklin did) one could self-evaluate and self-correct and self-develop over time. These qualities would evolve, with practice. I say evolve because these "virtues" are more than habits, they can become baked into who we are. Although our mental perspective might change in a snap of a finger, it takes the rest of one’s life to re-form who we are.
But heck, it’s worth giving it a go, eh?
In these troubled times, I wonder if it would make a positive difference if our leaders - those elected to Congress, business moguls, faith leaders, really anyone with inordinate influence - would truly practice examining their conscience about what is right and wrong on a regular basis. Perhaps they do, but sometimes I wonder. Often I wonder.
Then too, all those people making the big decisions are enabled by us. I also wonder if it would make a positive difference in our society if examining one's conscience became a daily practice for many more of us.
I bet it would.
Examining our conscience on a regular basis should help us over time to make better and better decisions daily. Over the course of a day, a week, a year, and a life those decisions add up to represent the kind of person we really are. If we are intentional about examining and then doing, then we are also being deliberate about being and becoming who we wish to be. Oh, we'll still make poor decisions. We will still make self-serving decisions. But fewer over time. Hopefully.
And we will be less prone to blow in the winds of whim or to float, rudderless, in the waters of change.
People so often say they need to "find themselves" or to "find out who they are". Why not create
who you are and not spend so much time searching?
How about that?
References
à Kempis, T. (2013). The Imitation of Christ
(R. Challoner, Trans.). Charlotte, N.C.: Tan Books & Pub.
St. Ignatius of Loyola (2011). The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola
(T. Corbishley, Trans. Dover ed.). Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications.
Photo Credits
Photos by Michael Kroth
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Some Selections Related To Conscience
From The Imitation of Christ
Book II: OF THE JOY OF A GOOD CONSCIENCE
“Keep a good conscience and thou shalt always have joy.
A good conscience can bear very much and is very joyful in the midst of adversity.
A bad conscience is always fearful and uneasy.” (p. 59)
“The glory of good men is in their own consciences, not in the mouths of men” (p. 59).
“He will easily be content and in peace whose conscience is clean.” (60)
“If thou consider well what thou art within thyself thou wilt not care what men say of thee” (p. 60).
“Man beholds the face, but God looks upon the heart. Man considers the actions, but God weighs the intentions” (60).
Book IV: Chapter 7: OF THE EXAMINATION OF ONE’S OWN CONSCIENCE, AND OF A RESOLUTION OF AMENDMENT
“Diligently examine thy conscience, and to the best of thy power cleanse and purify it by true contrition and humble confession: so that there be nothing weighty to give thee remorse and hinder thy free access.” (p. 218)
“Repent thee of all thy sins in general, and in particular lament and grieve for thy daily offenses. And if thou hast time confess to they God, in the secret of thy heart, all the miseries of thy passions.” (p. 218).
“So much inclined to exterior things, so negligent as to the interior…”
“Having confessed and bewailed these and thine other defects with sorrow and a great dislike of thine own weakness, make a strong resolution always to amend thy life and to advance in virtue.” (p. 219).
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Some Selections Related To Conscience
From the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius
A DAILY PARTICULAR EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE (pp. 22-24)
24. The first occasion is the moment of getting up in the morning. One should then resolve to watch carefully so as not to commit the particular sin or fault which one has decided to correct.
25. The second is after the midday meal, when on asks of our Lord God what one wants, the grace to recall how often one has fallen into that particular sin or fault and to amend for the future. So the first examination is made by exacting from one’s conscience an account dealing with the particular fault it is proposed to correct, running over each hour or period of time, beginning from the moment of getting up until this present examination.…..
26. The third occasion is after supper, when the, when the second examination is made, going in the same way over the hours, beginning from the first examination until this second one…
27. Four additional practices are here given, for the quicker eradication of that particular sin or fault.
(1) Every time one falls into that particular sin or fault, the hand is laid on the breast in token of sorrow for the fall. This can be done even in company without its being noticed.
28. (2)…it can be seen at night whether there has been any improvement…between the two examinations.
29. (3). The second day should be compared with the first, that is, the two examinations of the present day with the previous day’s, so as to see whether there has been any improvement from one day to the next.
30. (4) One week should be compared with the previous one, to see if there has been any improvement between the two.
A GENERAL EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE: FOR SELF-PURIFICATION AND FOR MAKING A BETTER CONFESSION
METHOD OF MAKING THE GENERAL EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE IN FIVE STAGES (p. 28)
43. (1) Give thanks to our Lord God for favours received.
(2) As for grace to know and to root out your sins.
(3) Demand of your conscience an hourly or periodic account, beginning with the moment of getting up until this examination, first as to thoughts, then words and then actions, in the way described in the Particular Examination.
(4) Ask pardon of our Lord God for these faults.
(5) Resolve, with the grace of God, to do better.
An Our Father.
We will be less prone to blow in the winds of whim or to float, rudderless, in the waters of change.
“In Celtic wisdom we remember that our soul, the very heart of our being, is sacred. What is deepest in us is of God. ” ~John Philip Newell 1
We may be lights under bushels, but we can shine brightly against the dark even if we are mere candles. Together, the light may shine bright.
Silence speaks to us Listening in deep quiet… Hear what you long for! ~Patricia Leyko Connelly 1
"Elegance is the harmonious integration of simplicity, refinement, and intentionality across diverse contexts, combining timeless beauty with functional sophistication." ~ChatGPT Synthesized Definition
Unmade bed, and mind Unmade mind, unready day Night turns into dawn ~Michael Kroth
When I first discovered Stephen Covey’s book, The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People 1 , I thought the habits he proposed were so simple. They were so self-evident. When I read them, they were so life changing. I remember reading the book and it was one of the biggest “aha” experiences of my life. As I’ve discovered, they are also so, so hard. I became a facilitator for several of Covey’s courses, and I remember him saying that what he was proposing was both simple and hard. What he meant by that was that the concept of the habit (putting First Things First, for example) was simple, and he offered uncomplicated but effective ways to work on them, but integrating that habit into one’s life, into one’s being, was hard. It would take time and perseverance. And, of course, that’s true. I know it’s true because I still have a long way to go on just these seven habits and that’s decades from when I started, and that’s only seven out of abuncha other practices I’d like to adopt, maintain, or improve on. Changing habits or routines is not impossible by any means, but that doesn’t make it easy no matter how much of an expert one might be. We know that smoking is bad for us, and yet quitting smoking can seem impossibly hard. I used to smoke three packs of cigarettes a day and tried every which way in the world I could to quit, including self-hypnosis, but it took my wife to buy me a smoking cessation program based on aversion therapy (I got a little shock every time I took a puff of smoke) to actually quit. It’s been 45 years since I stopped smoking. But I've known for a long time that eating too much sugar is bad for me, and still I do it. And the scale reminds me of that every day. And still I do it. But I'm working on it. We know that exercise and good nutrition and developing relationships is good for our health over the lifespan, but it takes time and effort to develop them. (For some other thoughts about this, see Whack-A-Mole , Sloughing , The Practice of Practices: The Meta-Practice of Practices ). The good news is that the benefits of working on these practices start accruing from day one, even though getting better at it is a lifetime process. Just because a person knows a good deal about something doesn’t mean that they are skillful at it. Someone who studies generosity isn’t necessarily generous. The worldwide expert in humility isn’t necessarily humble. The medical doctor who rhapsodizes the virtues of exercise isn’t always in the best shape. The theologian who knows more than anyone about some aspect of Christianity or Hinduism or Islam or any religion doesn’t necessarily practice the religious virtues she or he has written about in papers and books. A generous person may know nothing – in fact, probably doesn’t know much – about the latest generosity studies. And the person conducting those studies may be a descendant of Scrooge. Which brings me to the word I came up with for 2024 - elegancing. It’s only fair to ask myself, almost-post-2024, if elegancing has become more of who I am and how I operate in the world. How well, self-reflection should reveal, have I actually practiced it? How deeply have I become an elegant person? Writing a “Prologue” to 2024 Judith Valente asked those of us who took part in her workshop last January, “Prologue to 2024” (see My Word for 2024 – Elegancing ) to write a letter to ourselves about the coming year. I opened that letter on December 21st, and I don’t mind sharing excerpts of what I wrote. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1-15-2024 Prologue to 2024 Michael Kroth To the Divine Ground, to the Great Vastness, and to the Inner LastingNess, May this be a year of Elegancing, of winnowing out the chaff, and keeping – reverencing – the grain. The elegant solution is the simplest, nothing extra, nothing missing. “Take More Time, Cover Less Ground,” a song by Carrie Newcomer, is my theme song. It reminds me of Evelyn Underhill. She would pick one retreat for a year, and give that retreat several times. Rather than giving many retreats. Cultivating Spirituality in Later Life is my topic. This means knowing about gerontology, spirituality, and lifelong learning Healthwise is my approach – not worrying about length of life as much as quality of life for as long as I live. To that end, five areas of continual improvement: exercise, nutrition, sleep, emotional/social health, spiritual growth, financial/material health. To consider myself a learner/practitioner in each of these areas. Designing my environment to move toward elegance with a twist (a bit of irreverence tossed in…). Exercising daily, eat healthily, sleep well, become a better (husband, father, friend, and neighbor) person, deepen my spiritual growth, and healthy personal financial management. All these by exercising and strengthening values and virtues and behavior that carry out the Great Commandments (love God and Neighbor). To find and practice the unifying themes between all of these areas of life, (Occam’s Razor, the elegant solutions) such that life becomes increasing and simultaneously simpler and more profound. All this to continually immerse myself in an environment and life of flourishing. Michael Kroth, Student of Life ------------------------------------------------------------------------- That’s what I wrote, and as I sit here on December 30 th 2024 these still are values and approaches that I want to continue to build into myself and my life through 2025 and beyond. I like what I wrote then – it fits where I am and where I want to go. But, have I made much progress? But, have I made much progress? What have I learned about elegancing and myself this past year? Looking back over the year I’ve done pretty well on some of these and on some have I have not. One area in which I have not made much progress is in personal financial management. I've made little steps, but it does not come naturally for me. I just don't think about money much, and not nearly so much as I ought to. I'll have to do better in 2025 as retirement hurdles forward me. Regarding the big four metapractices 2 – spiritual learning, embodied learning, cognitive learning, and socio-emotional learning – elegancing underlies them all. That is, I’m working to go more deeply, more synergistically, and in a less scattered way with each of them, and all of them interacting with each other. Carrie Newcomer’s words, Take More Time, Cover Less Ground 3 , is what Duhigg calls a “keystone habit,” and applies to all of these. “Some habits,” Duhigg says, “matter more than others in remaking businesses and lives.” 4 Focusing more, and what is likely to make the most difference, seems like a good strategy. It is probably self-evident, but my curiosity is a strength and a vulnerability. As one who is interested in learning about many things, it is easy to jump from one fascinating topic to another. To wit, over the last few weeks, I’ve started to learn how to use AI. And it is helping me to learn conversational Spanish. Those are two big topics themselves. Oh, and I’ve backslud a bit on practicing Tai Chi, but it remains on the top of my list. And I want to know more about Spain. Oh, and I’m going to sign up for the Osher Institute this next month. Oh, and I can’t forget…. And yeah, I’m going to Judith’s 2025 retreat on January 11 th , Writing the Prologue to Your New Year . I haven’t come a long way, baby, but I’ve come a ways. And I’m thinking 2025 might be pretty wonderful, even with all its inevitable ups and downs. Focus on the present moment, MK, focus not just on be-coming, but at the same time be-ing. (And let's not forget do-ing...) So, to answer my own question, I've made a little progress, enough to make me feel excited about continuing. Even if my practice of elegance has a long way to go, I know a lot more about elegancing than I did a year ago. I’ve been keeping track of articles about elegance over the last year (I used a Google alert, and am beginning to go deeper with Google Scholar) to learn more about it. More than a fashion choice, elegance applies to advanced technology, design (of all sorts), sports, science, software, and beyond. That’s knowledge, which is good. Practicing until one becomes, until one is be-ing elegant, that’s better. These practices start with the smallest, often the most tenuous, of steps. I feel like 2024 has been a time of taking my first steps toward elegancifying the way I approach the world. Elegancifying . I like it. Maybe that will be my word for 2025. How about you? What will your word be for 2025? Your song? Your desired experience? This elegancing thing might take me a while. Like maybe the rest of my life. Sources and Resources 1 Covey, S. R. (1989). The seven habits of highly effective people: restoring the character ethic. Simon and Schuster. 2 For a more in-depth look at the processes of lifelong formation, see Kroth, M., Carr‐Chellman, D. J., & Rogers‐Shaw, C. (2022). Formation as an organizing framework for the processes of lifelong learning. New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource Development , 34(1), 26-36. 3 Carrie Newcomer, Take More Time, Cover Less Ground. https://carrienewcomer.substack.com/p/take-more-time-cover-less-ground-10e 4 Duhigg, C. (2014). Power of habit: why we do what we do in life and business (Random House Trade Paperback Edition ed.), p. 100. 5 Carrie Newcomer, You Can Do this Hard Thing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRGnftH_g4I Retreat Information To sign up for Judith’s January 11 th retreat, check it out here: Writing the Prologue to Your New Year
Illustration created by Michael Kroth, with the assistance of OpenAI's DALL-E Tool (my FIRST SECOND using AI!)
