I am very touched by the explanation of the path of disbelief, which I believe is the one I most identified with currently. I hesitate to define myself as an atheist because I know that the knowledge which I possess right now is insufficient for me to make that claim, but this path provides me, at least, some approaches to interpret and understand the presence of God. It is very interesting to see that the presence of God can even apply to people who do not believe in God or believe in an intellectual way to “prove” God. Therefore, I would say a big take-away after reading Jesuit guide is a more inclusive image of God; God can meet us anytime, no matter how we feel, where we are, and who we are.
After four-week (approximately) writing of gratitude journal, I find it is a great way to pause and retrospect the whole day. I usually complete my gratitude journal at night, when I finish all my classes and turn off my laptop. I prefer to start my writing by a short meditation, which helped me better recall the details of things for which I feel grateful. This is very similar with the meditation, which brings people to think about the presence of God. My next step of completing gratitude journal is starting to write it, but I will ask myself to write them as detailed and precise as I can. I hope in the future, when I look back on my journals, this happiness can thankfulness can appear in my mind. Gratitude journal is a way to feel and appreciate the gratitude in our daily life, and these Jesuit guides are ways to realize the presence of God. I find this parallel interesting.
I also want to mention the last story in Chapter 4, the little fish. For a lot of times, people do not miss out something, but they just miss out to realize that thing. The reason for me to continue writing gratitude journals is the opportunities to conclude my day. A demanding schedule makes me feel anxiety and worrisome. Therefore, a pause, as I mentioned above, is extremely helpful and important. Both gratitude journals and Jesuit guides provide me the pause button, allowing me to retrospect my day and gain from it. I really like the theme behind them: you don’t need to look for. All you need to do is to look.
