Testament

A Testament
The following guided meditation is a creative alternative to examining
one's conscience. This reflection was proposed by Anthony de Mello, a
Jesuit from India who conducted countless workshops throughout the world
on the subject of prayer and reflective living.
I imagine that today I am to die.
I ask for time to be alone and write down for my friends a sort of
testament for which the points that follow could serve as chapter
titles:
1. These things I have loved in life:
Things I tasted,
looked at,
smelled,
heard,
touched.
2. These experiences I have cherished:
3. These ideas have brought me liberation:
4. These beliefs I have outgrown:
5 These convictions I have lived by:
6 These are the things I have lived for:
7. These insights I have gained in the school of life:
insights into God,
the world,
human nature,
Jesus Christ,
love,
religion,
prayer.
8. These risks I took, these dangers I have courted:
9. These sufferings have seasoned me:
10 These lessons life has taught me:
11 These influences have shaped my life:(persons, occupations, books,
events):
12. These scripture texts have lit my path:
13. These things I regret about my life:
14. These are my life's achievements:
15. These persons are enshrined within my heart:
16. These are my unfulfilled desires:
I choose an ending for this document:
a poem - my own or someone else's;
or a prayer;
a sketch or a picture from a magazine;
a scripture text;
or anything that I judge would be an apt conclusion to my testament.
-------Anthony de Mello sj

La Conclusi�n
Me imagino que hoy voy a morir. Solicito tiempo para estar a solas y redactar para
mis amigos una especie de testamento en el que los siguientes puntos podr�an
constituir otros tantos cap�tulos:

Tales cosas he amado en mi vida:

Cosas que he saboreado...
contemplado...
olido...
escuchado...
tocado...
Tales experiencias he apreciado...
Tales conceptos me han ayudado a liberarme...
Tales creencias he dejado atr�s�
De tales convicciones he vivido�
Tales cosas para las que he vivido�
Tales ideas he adquirido en la escuela de la vida:
Ideas acerca de Dios,
Del mundo,
De la naturaleza humana,
De Jesucristo
Del amor,
De la religi�n,
De la oraci�n.
De...
Tales riesgos he corrido...
Tales peligros he buscado...
Tales sufrimientos me han moldeado...

Tales lecciones me ha ense�ado la vida...

Tales influencias han configurado mi vida (personas, ocupaciones, libros,
acontecimientos, responsabilidades...)...
Tales textos b�blicos han iluminado mi camino...
Tales cosas lamento de mi vida...
Tales logros he alcanzado...
Tales personas llevo en el coraz�n...
Tales deseos no he satisfecho...

Escojo un final para este documento:

Un poema (m�o o de cualquier otro);
O una oraci�n O un dibujo O una fotograf�a de una revista O un texto b�blico
O cualquier cosa que me parezca podr�a ser una apropiada conclusi�n a mi
testamento
Anthony de Mello