The Importance of Reflection submitted by Veronica Pugh ’23, Bishop Foys Scholar

About now, halfway through the semester, we are all probably missing summer and needing a break from the craziness of our lives. Students, staff, and anyone who happens to be reading this, now is a great time for everyone to remember the importance of silence. It’s good to take time for yourself to sit in a quiet room and reflect on where you are in life. As a Christian, my favorite place to go on campus is the meditation room in the Chapel. For the most part, it is empty and is an incredible place to have a quick chat with Christ before I go back to my crazy schedule. It’s important to take some time to say that quick “what’s up?” to Christ and tell Him about your day. For those who don’t currently have a friendship with Christ, the meditation room is an excellent quiet place for reflection, or, if you’re not super comfortable with that idea, you can find a place outside. You can go on a short walk or hike or just sit and reflect on this incredible earth that we live on. In the midst of all this craziness, remember to take a breath. When you are constantly caught up in the whirlwind of the moment, you tend to forget what’s important. We need some time out of our day or week to sit in silence and rediscover what we’ve neglected and discover what’s most important to us. Even Christ Himself was “led by the Spirit into the wilderness” (Matthew 4:1), “went out to a desolate place” (Mark 1:35; Luke 4:42), and “went up on the mountain by himself to pray…” (Matthew 14:23). 

Here are two articles about silence and reflection that I find inspiring: tmuky.us/breakfromchaos and tmuky.us/quiet.