The need to ponder

TO think about seriously, to mull over, study, evaluate, meditate… These are some synonyms of “ponder” which we need to do if we are to sustain our sanity and keep pace with the changing situations of our life.

Our problem is that we tend to avoid this basic function, perhaps not intentionally, and just fall on what some people say as “what comes naturally,” that is, to rely simply on instincts, common sense, and knee-jerk reactions.

We seem to be so pushed only by the rush of events, by excitements, by fads that without noticing it we are slowly losing dominion over our own life and affairs. We tend to renounce our duty to determine our own life and, instead, begin to depend on external factors. It looks like we are losing our freedom.

This state of affairs actually puts us in some vulnerable situations, especially these days when with all the rapid developments around, we need to be more discerning so as not to get confused and lost.

For example, in the field of technology, a big wave of new gadgets are now marketed, all giving out their great benefits. But we need to find out which one truly would fit us given our specific circumstances and conditions. This requires mulling things over.

In the world of media, there are now such a variety of shows that if we are not careful and if we only follow our first impulses, we would surely be swallowed up by their unstoppable effusion that can lead us nowhere. Or they can hold us captive under the criteria only of popularity, practicality, convenience, pleasure and nothing beyond.

Even our views and opinions are often shaped indiscriminately by what we see on TV and the Internet and read in papers. Not only are they plentiful, but can also be so conflicting that we are often left baffled and perplexed. Worse, due to this profusion, we can fall into total indifference and a self-perpetuating cynicism.

The world of public opinion has become so shifty, with no clear foundations and orientations, with hazy worldviews, detached from absolute values and wallowing in purely relativistic outlook, that we now seem to have no distinct ideas anymore of what is good or bad, proper or improper, moral or immoral. All become “weather-weather lang.”

We need to have a good grip of the situation, and the first thing to realize is our need to ponder. It makes us use our best human faculties of intelligence and will that, more than what our instincts and passions can cover, can enter and penetrate into the essence and spirit of things.

In the gospel, Christ gives priority to pondering over working. The story of Martha and Mary dramatizes this point well (cfr Lk 10,40-42). Martha was busy doing many things in the house, but it was Mary who simply sat at Christ’s feet listening to him that according to him, did the “only one thing necessary.”

Of course, we have the example of Our Lady whose usual mode of behavior with respect to Christ’s words and deeds was to “ponder them in her heart” (Lk2,19) or to “keep them in her heart.”(Lk 2,51)

Yes, we need to ponder things in our heart! But more than just studying things on our own, subjecting all sorts of topics, issues and concerns to our rational thinking alone, we need to refer them always to God, since God is first, last and always the ultimate source of truth, goodness, justice, etc.

In short, to ponder has to be a form of praying, and not just reasoning. It has to be done in dialogue with God, and not only talking with our own selves or among ourselves. God always has to enter into our thinking, judging and reasoning. Otherwise, we would get caught in a web of pure subjectivism.

So when we pray, we have to see to it that we bring specific issues, questions, concerns, etc. We just cannot go to our prayer without a spelled-out plan of discussion with God. That would just be a waste of time, and before long, we will find prayer unbearable.

We have to develop the skill of pondering, meditating, dialoguing and arriving at conclusions in our prayer. Imagine if this practice becomes a habit! Our prayer would assume a very interesting and enlightening character.

And before long, as we become more familiar with God’s mind and ways, our prayer becomes increasingly contemplative, where more than discussing, we simply see God’s designs in things.