The Who, What, When, Where and Why of Reflections
Reflections aren’t just for work. Using them in your personal life can be enriching and rewarding. Here’s how to start:
Who
Use reflections alone or with groups of family or friends.
What
Reflections can come from a variety of sources, including prayers, passages from Scripture, famous quotes, poems, films and songs. You can read them, listen to them as part of a podcast or audiobook, or watch them in video form. A few examples of online resources for prayers and reflections include the Catholic Health Association of the United States’ Prayer Library (chausa.org/prayers) and sacredspace.ie, a joint apostolate of the Irish Jesuits and Loyola Press.
When
If you prefer to use reflections by yourself, pick a time when it’s easy to be quiet, both physically and mentally, perhaps at the beginning or end of the day.
Where
One of the wonderful things about reflections is you can use them anywhere you can focus and think deeply, whether on a treadmill during a workout, on a trail with your dog, at your kitchen table or in the car on your way to work.
Why
Pausing your day to ponder, be inspired by and learn from quotes or writings that you find meaningful can connect you with our Creator and help reveal the purpose we each possess.
Cultural Cornerstones
What makes a good reflection? It can come from a variety of sources and take many forms—see “The Who, What, When, Where and Why of Reflections” to learn more. Patrick Gaughan, vice president, Center for Formation at CHI National, likes the structure of CHI’s Sacred Stories, employee-submitted accounts of interactions or episodes of care at our ministries that illustrate the presence of the divine in our work. Each story features a preface from Scripture or another sacred text, followed by the story itself and questions upon which to reflect.
Our National Mission Group helps ensure spirituality remains woven into the fabric of CHI by offering prayers and reflections for use throughout our ministry. The Group disseminates a weekly prayer to each of our national offices and shares Feast Day prayers with the entire ministry so we can pray together. Our use of reflections at meetings is a small but crucial part of promoting a workplace spirituality that helps define who we are as a ministry—and as individuals.
“It is important to make room for prayer and reflection as a personal discipline to make meaning of the what, who and why in our lives, and for us to connect all of that with the deeper meaning of our personal why behind what we do,” Patrick said. “The opportunity to pause like this at work is not only uncommon—it is also a true gift.”
If you’re in need of inspiration or ideas for reflections, look no further than CHI’s Sacred Stories. To find them in text, video and, now, podcast form, and to learn how to submit your own story, visit the National page of InsideCHI, click on “Spirituality” and select “Sacred Stories.”