During this period of Covid, lockdowns, and working remotely, many human beings experienced for the first time a true sense of what it feels like to be valuable and worthwhile to others and self. The challenge during this period was understanding what prevents us from sliding into deceptiveness and dishonesty about those feelings.
This period for many, brought about an awareness of meditation. It means to Think quietly, reflect on ways you can help others besides ourselves, and feel valuable and worthwhile in the world we live in.
As we slowly emerge back to what we may think is normal, maybe we should be asking the question, “How can I help change the world?”
I believe the act of change requires some degree of reflecting, contemplation, and, most importantly, open conversation with human beings. This is a time to consider reclaiming the art of conversation seriously. Yes, even in a digital world of autonomous technologies, honest discussions and not just talk should become our goal.
I have personally found during this past year when I engage in mediation, reflection, and contemplation, I am more open to conversations, listening to others, and collaborating.
Thomas Merton defines contemplation as:
“It knows the Source, obscurely, inexplicably, but with a certainty that goes both beyond reason and beyond simple faith. …Hence contemplation is an unexpected gift of awareness, an awakening to the Real within all that is real. A vivid awareness of infinite Being at the roots of our own limited being. An awareness of our contingent reality as received, as a present from God, as a free gift of love.” New Seeds of Contemplation 2-3.
We are all on the path of contemplation. Hopefully, we will start the next step in having open and real conversations with the people we cherish in life, with our fellow colleagues in our daily adventures, and with those with whom we often struggle with finding meaning together.
We are trying hard to experience the inner voice. Reflection and Contemplation are our human awareness and our “Aha moment” in reflection, in silence, when the experience speaks to us, and we come to realize we are not alone in the world. We are not the center of the universe.
What action does contemplation lead us to take in our lives as we meet the universe?
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