Our lives do not include room for reflection. We do not have time to pay attention. We have gotten out of the habit of listening, even to ourselves. We are busy entertaining ourselves and each other.
We carry music, books, movies, and other distractions on our devices wherever we go. We put much more effort into tuning out what we do not want to hear than listening to what we do. We fill our time with personalized distractions designed to reinforce our own tastes.
We are no longer able to understand the differences between what is appealing and what is beautiful.
We have lost the skills of rest and reflection. We perceive spiritual life as something weak and malnourished. We do not feed it with reflection. We want to find answers immediately rather than sorting them out for ourselves. We are eager for someone to tell us instead of discerning.
Spiritual life is not a pill we can take to make us feel better. We feed spiritual life in us as we would feed a fire in a fireplace. Reflection fuels the fire of spiritual life.
Spiritual life fills our lungs with inspiration, breathing life into us. We strengthen our appreciation of spiritual life in us through practices and disciplines. It takes time for us to find healthy spiritual life. As we learn and grow, we recognize powerful spiritual life in us and around us.
Reflection gives the disparate pieces of our lives opportunities to fall into place. Life is not fed by doing more, reading more, thinking more. We strengthen the life in us as we spend time reflecting.
Spiritual life embraces us in our times of reflection.
When do you feed spiritual life with reflection?
How well nourished is spiritual life in you?
[Image by jenny downing]
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