This short meditation is a way of praying about real life, of finding God in the everyday. There are five sections to this prayer, each quite short.

Find a comfortable place; breath deeply & slowly; close your eyes if it helps. Become conscious of placing yourself before God, who is waiting for you, looking at you & smiling. Once you are more in tune with that reality, offer the day just ending to God. Ask God to reveal the day, as God sees it. Ask, too, for a spirit of gratitude for whatever was given in the day, even if you are not at this moment aware of having received much, or even anything. Give it to God as a deeply-felt desire.

From getting up in the morning through all the commutes & journeys, meetings, encounters, frustrations, successes, hopes, disappointments, delights, hurts and events of the day, right up to this moment, let your day play back to you again. For some people this can be done continuously, like a video playing in your mind; for others it might be a bit more random. Either is good. With practice, you can come to see that this is actually God showing you the day and all the people in your day. Notice “the warm spots and the cold spots”. Give it to God to bless.

Bring to mind one or two points that have delighted you today and still delight you now as you think of them again. These are any kind of event or encounter that has brought you joy or laughter, or satisfaction; or something that just moves deep inside you, saying “Yes!” This might be something that was said to you or something you said. It was probably an offer God was holding out to you, so thank God not only for the offer but also for having been able to accept it. Be in that moment again but don’t spend time or effort trying to explain it or analyse it; just be there once more, before it vanishes into time & history. Give it to God with joy.

Now bring to mind anything negative that surfaces for you; a word, a thought, a reaction that left you saddened … or annoyed … or even angry. This might be something you’ve said that you wish you hadn’t said, or perhaps you kept silent when you should have spoken; or an action that you were forced into, perhaps professionally, that left you feeling uneasy or just bad. It might be something that God was offering, an opportunity, but maybe you backed away or could not accept it. No explaining, reasons or analysis for now. Be aware, and accepting, if you find that these are things you would rather not look at, right now; don’t force it, but don’t suppress it either. Whatever it is that is negative in your day, acknowledge and own it now. Give it to God to heal.

Finally, thinking ahead, looking forward …. your journey away from the place where you are at this moment, if only to end the day or to sleep; can you imagine that already? Can you also imagine tomorrow morning? What comes to mind, that is already in your diary for tomorrow; the same as most other days, or different? See in the imagination the place you will go to and how you will get there. What you are doing now is blessing the day ahead of you, because God has been with you throughout this reflection. And as God’s Spirit has been calling you and offering you opportunities all day long, as you can now see a little more clearly, so God will continue to call you tomorrow and for all the time to come. Give it to God to fill with hope.