Tax prep as Ignatian practice

When I was doing my taxes this year, it occurred to me that the process is a bit like praying the prayer of examen. This Ignatian prayer is used at the end of the day to think back on what happened that day, to ponder where God was in it and to think ahead to the next day. In doing my taxes, I was forced to think back on the events of my life in 2011, both the good and the bad.

While the daily examen leads to prayer, a financial review of a whole year can lead to cursing. But going over my finances for 2011 brought pleasant memories along with the unpleasant and bittersweet ones. I felt gratitude for the good fortune of discovering a doctor who was able to do a delicate but minimally invasive surgical procedure on me. He spared me having to go through major surgery with a prolonged and painful recovery period.

I thought too of the deterioration of my mother’s health last year, including the loss of some of her memory and even an unexpected shift in her personality. While she might not yet be ready to claim death as her friend, I was reminded of this notion of Henri Nouwen’s: I hope that she can make peace with death before it comes, to even welcome it as friend.