By Ryan Brault
Recently my wife Jamie and I had the privilege of hosting a Servant Leadership Class at our house with a group of friends that was facilitated by the Center for Sharing. One of the things that this class did for me was to create some space, carved out from the rest of my week, in reflection with a group of friends and fellow sojourners. Another thing that I was reminded of during this time is not only the fact that I don’t take as much time to stop and reflect on my life as I should, but that this reflection done in community is so much more powerful than if only done by oneself. The reason I believe, is because God created us to be in community with Him and others.
There was a particular exercise that we did in smaller groups of 4 or 5 in which we each told 3 stories about times in our lives where we were at our “best” or where we felt we were fully alive. As each person shared, the rest of the group had an assignment. First of all to listen, which is a skill that I can always use some help improving. The second was to write a word that described a characteristic of the person who was telling the story, something that the story told us about who that person was being in that setting. One thing that I found extremely powerful is that it reminded me yet again that we do not have the capacity on our own to see ourselves the way that God sees us or even the way that other people see us. During the class, we read a poem that was entitled, “Loaves and Fishes” in which the author states that “one good word is bread for a thousand.” The words we use are so powerful and can make a tremendous impact, and I often lose sight of that.
A professor I had in college taught me a tremendous amount about the power of reflection. In fact, in every class I took from her, it ended with a reflection paper in which we were to write on the same three topics. My challenge to you reading this would be to take some time this week to reflect on this same question using a recent experience you had, or a challenge you have faced, etc. What did I learn about Myself, about God, and about the world in which we live? Just take some time to stop and reflect on what God has been teaching you lately. You might be surprised.