Select few of my personal favorite reflections:
Reflection on Friendship In Regards to the Jesuit Guide
The most fascinating aspect of the chapter on friendship with God was James Martin’s emphasis on listening as a factor of building this relationship with the Lord. Whenever I find time to pray, personally I usually reflect on my day and actively communicate with God, but rarely do I ever feel as though I get a response. This can be disheartening at times because when you feel alone and turn to God, it is hard to know if He is truly listening. Through the ideas of insights, memories, and emotions, I now have the opportunity to experience listening to God, and discovering his plan for me. On the other hand, Martin asserts that change is an imperative aspect of relationships which helps them blossom over time. When relationships become stagnant and remain the same over a long period of time is when doubt arises. In order to continue evolving one’s relationship with God, one must put aside the fear that comes along with these uncertainties and simply trust in God’s calling.
Reflection on Fr. Jerry’s Talk
After listening to Fr. Jerry speak to the class, I will definitely remember the drastic similarities between his life and our lives, or my life specifically. I found it surprising to hear about day to day disagreements and events that happen in my life, for instance, a quarrel over something as trivial as food, is even present in his life as well. Sometimes from an outside standpoint monasteries and religious figures, in general, appear to be immaculate in their behaviors, so it was shocking to hear about other people around him who complain and act in a stubborn manner from time to time. It was also very impactful to hear that even he has room to improve his friendship with God. Even a religious leader like Father Jerry struggles seeing God in his own life on some occasions, and that directly relates to my life because I feel as though, growing up in a religious home and attending religious high school, I have not furthered my relationship with God to the degree that one would imagine. I still struggle with my faith and with prayer, and rarely do I self-reflect on my life. Father Jerry, therefore, reassured me that God will always welcome me with open arms as long as I strive to form a bond with Him. Currently, I feel as though I am in a difficult part of my life in terms of faith, as I have just recently taken on a plethora of new responsibilities at college, and with all the stress of daily life, I feel as though I struggle to turn to my faith. Fr. Jerry even reiterated the fact that even he at one point was confused by his faith and felt disconnected from God. Through dedication and trust in the Lord, Fr. Jerry received his calling from God and displayed his loyalty to Him by following his plan. I personally am intrigued to uncover God’s plan for me, and hope to be able to hear and adhere to God’s voice whenever He speaks to me.
Decision Making and Living a Life of Integrity
I feel that when it comes to decision-making in one’s life, one must always put their character first. I find that if you simply take a few seconds or a few minutes to consciously think about your decisions throughout the day, and the effect they have on those around you and their perception of you, it is then easier to be yourself. Humanity knows inherent good versus bad, yet we still continue to make the wrong choice in life simply because we want to avoid risk and take the safer option all the time, even if it is inherently worse. To this end, I feel it is necessary that humanity as a whole begin to contemplate their actions more often. Sometimes the more appealing option is morally wrong, and therefore it is important that you allow your selflessness to triumph in order to not put yourself before others. As long as you put in the time to weigh your options and list their pros and cons, you will find you will make better decisions overall in your life and will feel more confident about your decisions.
As Ruth Chang explains, even small choices can have bigger impacts and confounding effects on other areas of our life. Additionally, “fear of the unknown” is described as a mistake of picking the safer option simply to avoid risk. Because there is no best option, humans struggle picking the riskier option. This is problematic because this sometimes leads us to make worse decisions because we fear the risks involved in a possible better option.
Unlike quantitative numbers, hard choices are not simply greater than, less than, or equal to in value. Decisions are not always balanced in this way, and choices cannot always be represented with a numeric/measurable value. Therefore, reason alone dictates our decisions. I was specifically intrigued by her idea of enslavement by reason, because, in a world where decisions our easy and there is always a better choice, humanity would then be enslaved to these reasons and there really would be no decision. Our lives are all dictated around reason, and if we allow our character and brain to help us throughout our life’s decision making and weigh our options best as possible, we can live with more integrity and be more authentic in our own way. We must discover these reasons ourselves in order to be confident in our choices. If we keep in mind the people we want to become when we face hard choices, we will then become those people through our decisions. There is not always a better option, but simply using reason based on our views of ourselves and dictating our decisions based on who we believe we are, these decisions themselves will make us become that person. Free will itself controls what we do, and therefore who we are.
