Vol. XVI
No. 8
SEPTEMBER 2004
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by Corrado De Robertis
While some airlines take pain in providing non stop flights at ever greater distances around the world and some companies take pride in their non stop services and productions, the ability to stop and reflect is becoming ever more a virtue of a few, often considered by some as a waste of time and loss in productivity or just something to be avoided or face the unknown.
Yet life is not made of ceaseless activity and to come to a pause is even a physiological necessity. Moreover there is today a general rediscovery of the beneficial effects of prayer. It is so much so that scientists and doctors have been pointing at the importance and necessity of quiet reflection and meditation as essential to health of body and mind. This month’s WM special takes a look at the practice of meditation. An ancient practice well established in the east and later in the west too that however today is still misunderstood. While we may see meditation as part of contemporary trends to achieve utmost wellness among other remedies, its practice goes well beyond doing good to the body (boosting the immune system and relaxation) and to the mind (achieving mastery over the process of attention and psychological wellbeing). Christian spirituality sees prayer and meditation as the key of access to God and to understanding one’s own fitting place in His world, in prayer there is growth in true personal freedom and authenticity.
This is all the more needed in a world that is ever more bustling with high speed nonstop activities, instant communications and gadgets of all sorts that seem to be able to keep us busy all the time, detached from the truth and caught in a vortex of productivity and consumption where, after all, we are faced with loss of meaning and purpose. In fact depression is becoming a condition affecting millions of people especially in the most affluent societies of the developed world. The thirst for hope and goodness has never been as strong as in recent times so plagued as they are with a constant onslaught of bad news and insecurity.
It is to choose the ‘better part that will never be taken away’ (Luke 10:42) to stop a moment, listen to God, and experience the living force of love, solidarity and peace through prayer. <WM
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Fr Corrado De Robertis
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