Connections Archive

Harry Neale
Assistant chaplain, Lake Macquarie campus

The French have a saying to describe the time a person sets aside to ponder the deeper things of life. They say they are "travelling the interior," a perceptive metaphor aptly capturing the state of mind a person enters during profound periods of personal reflection.

"There is an art of which every man should be a master, the art of reflection," wrote William Wordsworth.

Reflection calms, clarifies and consolidates. This periodic conversation is essential if our life is to have meaning and purpose. To not engage this dimension of our humanity is to deny it. We become like animals, directed only by our basic instincts for survival, and no more. Who wants to live like that?

Taking time to reflect is biblical. Jesus did it on many occasions. After a day of ministry, He would extract Himself from His followers and find a quiet place to be still with God.

Paul also engaged in this spiritual discipline, for three years at one time--it occurred immediately after his conversion experience on the road to Damascus. In the first chapter of Galatians, he writes of going from Damascus to Arabia and then returning to Damascus where he stayed three years, before going to Jerusalem to meet the disciples. What happened in those three years? Paul doesn't say, but the educated guess according to many commentators is that Paul rethought his theology, developing it beyond the confines of Judaism under God's watchful eye. This process necessitates reflection. It also necessitates connection with the Divine. And therein lies the heart of Christian meditation. At its core, it is about connecting with the Creator: a coming to the Centre to be centred, if you will.

Unfortunately, taking time for reflection is challenging. We strap ourselves onto the carousal of life and allow our lives to spin at a velocity that appears to prevent us from stepping off. There is not time for process. Instead, what we have is excessive movement when what we need is to be still and "travel the interior" with God.