Explore contemplative practices as acts of resistance against despair and inner division.
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Host Ryan Dunn guides us through a timely and deeply practical exploration of how contemplative spiritual practices can become acts of resistance against the overwhelm and exhaustion so many of us face today. In this episode, we dive into the ways our attention is commodified—by social media, politics, and nonstop demands—and how practices like gratitude lists, breath prayer, and everyday pilgrimage can help us reclaim our sense of meaning, hope, and connection.
In this episode:
[00:00] The commodification of attention
[03:00] Resisting attention exhaustion and despair
[04:06] Action is the antithesis to despair
[08:39] Gratitude is active resistance
[10:07] Examen
[12:04] Centering
[13:32] Breath praying
[14:53] Pilgrimage
Episode Notes:
Find out more about the contemplative practices detailed in this episode.
Related Episodes:
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This episode posted on October 22, 2025
Episode Transcript:
Ryan Dunn:
Welcome back to this late edition of Compass: Finding spirituality in the everyday. I’m Ryan Dunn.
It’s confession time, I did something I normally do not do. I missed an episode. I’m sure you notice… right? You noticed? Maybe not. But I did. Scheduling got rough. And my energy level is down and I felt like I didn’t need to throw some half-hearted episode together to fill the calendar. So I missed it. I feel bad, but I’m hoping to atone for it with some extra content… like this.
Chances are, you kind of feel what I’m feeling right now. I’m hearing a lot about it. There are quite a number of mentally, emotionally, or physically exhausted people out there right now. Maybe you’re one. I have been.
I’ve been reading a book called Siren’s Call by journalist Chris Hayes. The book is about the commodification of our attention. We live in an unprecedented time in terms of outside sources deliberately courting our attention. For so many social media platforms, marketers, entertainers, media outlets and even politicians, garnering our attention equates to success. They thrive on grabbing our attention. So we are constantly being pulled in several conflicting directions.
I was at an event last weekend. Gina, my spouse, and I were recruited to help tear down a rather large outdoor sound system. Several other people were recruited as well. Most of us had little clue as to what needed to be done. One person, Ethan, seemed to know what was going on. So poor Ethan, twice a minute, had some well-meaning person asking him what needed to be done or how something needed to be done. It became overwhelming for him. At one point, he crouched behind a large speaker just to grab a break from the barrage of questions for a bit. A lot of us know how Ethan felt in that moment. In fact, if we’re engaging much in the digital world, carrying a smart phone, or spending time in populated places then we’re encountering that kind of overwhelm every day. We might be a little resistant to it by now… but it’s still exhausting and stressing.
I’ve seen so many cases where the exhaustion leads to despair. I’ve wandered into despair. Because in light of all the things going on, all that demands our attention, outrage, action, compassion, empathy and everything else… what can we do? Every action seems to get covered over by more overwhelm as something else jumps to our feed, or pings our phone, or shouts into our consciousness to demand our attention.
So to get practical in this episode, I want to talk about how we can practice some resistance to the attention-grabbing nature of our current existence and alleviate some of that subsequent exhaustion. We need to note, though, that this is not a suggestion to ignore the world around us. For sure, right now, we need to be paying attention. What we don’t need to be is constantly distracted and exhausted by that which demands our attention. And really, let’s be honest, I’m advocating that we do not simply ignore or hide from the movements of authoritarianism, the harm being done to our neighbors, the polarization of society or any of that. We need to keep our attention on those issues. We also need to keep ourselves resisting the exhaustion and despair related to those issues.
Action is the antithesis to despair. I didn’t make that statement up. I read it online someplace. It stuck with me. There are some useful things online.
Action can be problematic, however. Sometimes it’s an issue because misguided actions can be unhelpful. I’m reminded of an instance in which a group of clergy I was with were planning to visit a detention center on the US/Mexico border at the risk of running afoul of local law enforcement. Local leaders intervened, noting they had a working relationship with local law enforcement and didn’t want to jeopardize ongoing cooperation. So the group needed to change plans for direct action.
Also, some of us aren’t in spaces where we can protest all the time… nor are we convinced that constant public protest would be all that helpful. We’re not sure where to take our action. The frustrated feelings related to not feeling useful in action are exhausting, as well.
I’d like to offer some possible actions of resistance. These aren’t take-it-to-the-streets actions, per se. They’re more acts of resistance against the attention-grabbing nature of our current social economy and the feelings of overwhelm which lead to despair. I want us to have some tools in our back pockets to pull out when we feel like we need to resist, but aren’t sure what to do. When we’re spiraling down into despair because there’s so much going on and we’re unsure we can do anything about it. We can do something, we can resist the forces that cause us to give up.
A great book to check out during this time… or really any time… is Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning.” Viktor Frankl was a psychiatrist detained in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. For the Jewish Frankl, existence during that time was resistance. The book recounts Viktor’s experience in the camp and how it impacted his understanding of human suffering, resilience and how we cultivate meaning even in the worst of circumstances.
He wrote this: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
And so Viktor coped with his circumstances by directing his attention towards that which was meaningful to him. He searched for beauty and the power it holds… finding comfort in the sound of a violin. He recreated the manuscript for his book in his mind several times over. He pondered what it would be like to be reunited with his wife. Viktor Frankl found resilience and meaning through the contemplative and meditative. He directed his attention towards that which was meaningful and life-giving.
These became acts of resistance, because he gained life from them.
They can be acts of resistance for us, as well, because they direct us back to our own freedom in being able to choose our attitude and our way.
And our Christian tradition is full of contemplative and meditative practices or actions through which we can engage in this kind of resistance and reconnect with that which is life-giving.
Thomas Merton noted that in the modern age we are apt to suffer from an inner division. All the attention grabbers in our environment alienates us from our own center. We lose our sense of the image of God being within us, and that spills out into our perception of other people. Really, we become unmoored. We lose a sense of hearing that still voice of the loving Creator. Contemplative practices refocus us away from the attention grabbers and back into our inner lives, which both Merton and Frankl suggest is the means for meaningful connection and refreshment.
Honestly, that’s the big point I wanted to make in this episode. I’m going to suggest a few contemplative practices and walk you through them. If you’ve listened to this podcast for a while, there’s unlikely to be a whole lot of new info here.
In fact, the practice I’ll start off with is so mundane, so oft-suggested, so cliched that it might make you groan. But it’s also tremendously effective and powerful. Gina will sometimes text me about having rough a day, and every now and then I’ll try to engage her in this practice. Normally, she’ll tell me to save it… it’s just because this practice is so rudimentary. But I’m convinced it’s the basis of a healthy mindset and I’ll die on that hill.
It’s simply to make a gratitude list. As long or as short as you want. Write it, journal it, note it in your mind… I frame my mind as a prayer. “God, right now I’m thankful for these five things: the glow of the sun through an autumn leaf, my dog enjoying my presence, the weekend laughs I shared with family, the excitement I feel towards my next workout.”
And if you’re done laughing at me and rolling your eyes, try the gratitude list. It’s effective.
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A related practice that invites a little more reflection is called Examen, or Ignatian Examen.
Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) founded the Jesuit order of monks and compiled many of his spiritual practices into The Spiritual Exercises.
Ignatius recommended the Jesuits practice a daily reflection that came to be known as Examen (actually, he recommended they practice it twice a day). The Examen is a technique of prayerful reflection covering the events of the day. It helps practitioners discern God’s presence in the events of the day.
In its simplest form, the Examen invites us through five movements:
1. Give thanks to God for what you’ve experienced this day.
2. Ask grace to recognize sins and move on from them.
3. Review the day.
4. Ask pardon for the day’s faults
5. Resolve: what are you doing to do next?
For my own purposes, I’ve adapted those movements. And there’s nothing wrong with that. If you search around, you’ll find all kinds of adaptations of The Examen: from social media Examen to diversity Examen and more.
But for my daily life, these five questions really get me thinking:
When did I experience love?
When did I miss an opportunity to share love with others?
When did I feel most alive?
When did I feel depleted?
Where might God be calling me to move or act next?
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It seems like once or twice a month I just can’t get my mind to settle down while I’m trying to sleep. Normally, it looks like me falling asleep, then waking up for no particular reason and being unable to get back to sleep because my brain is on high alert and anxious.
At those times I’ll retreat into Centering Prayer. For me, that practice looks like this: choosing a word representative of the Divine. I often default to “Jesus, Lord, or mercy.” I think I chose “Lord” because I sometimes have a problem with authority and “Lord” kind of pulls me back into a healthier alignment with the idea of Jesus being the ultimate authority in my life. It’s helpful.
Anyways, I’ll just focus on that word until I drift off to sleep. Whenever my mind starts to wander back towards the anxious, I go back to that sacred word. For me, I see the word in big white, block letters against a black backdrop in my head. We’re supposed to keep our minds clear… and that little trick helps me.
If you want to do this during waking hours, the suggestion is to set a timer and go for it. You may want to start short, and then extend. I’ve gone as long as 30 minutes. I’m sure some people have spent whole days engaged in this.
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Another mind-settling contemplative practice is Breath Prayer… or really, that can kind of be a mantra. In breath prayer, you simply mentally recite a word or phrase as you inhale and recite another word or phrase as you exhale.
Maybe the most famous phrase is known as the Jesus Prayer. As you inhale you say “Have mercy on me…” then exhale and recite “a sinner”. Repeat as needed.
You could put just about any short phrase or mantra into that rhythm. I often try to adapt Psalms or other pieces of scripture for breath prayers to share on social media. So you get Amos 5 and breathing in while saying “Let justice”... breathe out while saying “roll like water…” Or Psalm 79 sounding like breathing in while reciting “Help us” and breathing out “For your glory.”
An adaptation for Breath Prayer moves away from the mantra recitation and instead focuses on receiving and releasing.
So as you breathe in, you focus on receiving God’s peace, and then exhale and release anxiety.
Or you inhale to receive compassion and exhale to release apathy.
Or inhale to receive gentleness and exhale to release self-doubt.
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Various forms of pilgrimage serve as contemplative practices as well. Often, we think of pilgrimage as a grand undertaking to a far off place–like a trip to Bethlehem or walking the Camino de Santiago. However, pilgrimage can be any journey of mental movement. I think for some people, the journey to the mailbox could be a pilgrimage if done with intention. The journey itself becomes a means for contemplating the presence of God in our lives. So I would suggest that a daily pilgrimage exclude the use of ear buds and cell phones. And instead allow our minds to become aware of the setting we’re in. In this way, a lunch time walk to go to the end of the road and back could be a pilgrimage.
There are sedentary pilgrimages, too. That might involve virtually visiting some kind of holy site in order to ground oneself in a sense of place or to foster a connection to the past. OR, it could look like taking a virtual journey through a labyrinth. A labyrinth is a complex path that takes you on a symbolic journey, creates space to unwind and think - in particular about our relationships with ourselves, one another, our planet and God.
The path has three stages - the 'inward' journey, the center and the 'outward' journey. The theme of the 'inward' journey is letting go of things which hinder our wholeness and inner approach to God. The center of the Labyrinth is a space of meditative prayer and peace. The theme of the 'outward' journey is relationship - with ourselves, with others and with the planet - seen in the light of our relationship with God.
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This is a handful of ideas for you. There are so many more. These practices are relative… they’re going to connect with some and not with others. The point is the connection, not so much the specific practice. So, in any case, I hope this episode has inspired you to find the meaningful way that might be able to alleviate or interrupt the spiral of despair and overwhelm and move towards hope and meaning.
That’s what this podcast is really about. So I hope you’ll join us again next week for another episode of Compass.
If you want to dig deeper into any of the topics we’ve discussed, be sure to visit our website at umc.org/compass. There you’ll find detailed episode notes, plus a full library of past episodes to keep you inspired.
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Thanks for journeying with us today. We’ll see you next time.
