Letting our Mental Faculties Rest

Many  seeing those dying of hunger in Africa, the agony of families losing everything in natural disasters, and not mentioned by our spiritual columnist in the Catholic Times, the recent horrible killing of 20 kindergarten children, who has not been deeply saddened by these tragic events.
 
Here it is not the head but the heart that is moved. The head has no need to think, examine or cross examine; there is an immediate response from the heart (the spirit). We are in harmony with the will of God; the head rests, and we give ourselves over to  the spirit.

This is true also with a devote reading of the Scriptures. If we have only a rudimentary knowledge of Scripture and do not understand, we still read. With greater knowledge we understand more but even then we need to  stop our thinking and read with the heart. We leave aside our rationalizations and  rest in the fullness of the words. We can remain a whole day with a few words of the Scriptures: "found it very good" from the first chapter of Genesis, pondering over these words as our prayer. All becomes one and simple because we have given the mental faculties a temporary rest.

The mental faculties are good but when they are overused problems develop. At present in Korea the intellect has primacy. From grammar school on to college too many adults, according to the columnist, are living in the head: centering on the 'I' and seeking personal fulfillment. We are not giving the spiritual its rightful place.

In Korea, there are many who are addicted to internet games. They have not been able to surmount the mental, which often develop into addictions to the internet and gambling, and fantasizing about sex. And these problems are not restricted to a  few special people, repeats the columnist, but mostly those who live entirely within the head.

Reflect for a moment on a person kneeling before the remains of a loved one. For the moment he or she  has left the thinking faculties and cherishes the memory of the dead person, crying in the heart and spirit. In these cases few are  those who are still there with the ego, or worrying about work, or absorbed with future plans, but only present to  the dead person. It is a a time when one is lost in silence. It is not a silence that is intended but comes naturally. That is the way we are made. Most of us are not familiar with this way of behaving that comes with putting  aside our thinking faculties.

Putting ourselves out in front, criticizing others, does not appear when we are concerned in forming the self in harmony with the will of God. We get rid of our thinking and are content to rest in the abundance of our spirit. It is truly a precious present we have been given. It is here we experience the fullness of  truth.