Detachment from the World's Agenda

September 21, 2015

Detachment from the World's Agenda

While reading Phenomenology of Prayer a particular quote caught my attention.

“Detachment from things does not mean setting up a contradiction between ‘things’ and ‘God’ . . . as if [God’s] creatures were His rivals.  We do not detach ourselves from things in order to attach ourselves to God, but rather we become detached from ourselves in order to see and use all things in and for God”  (page 22).

In the proceeding paragraphs the author writes that the world is based on one’s agenda and I believe this is so true considering how busy people are today.  This quote interacts with the fact that we have to pull away from our daily lives in order to see the non-materialistic things that are normally at the center of our importance even if they are not physical.  It also suggests that although media and a busy life play a role in today’s distractions it’s also ourselves that we have to pull away from in order to experience our conscious mind, especially when it says, “But rather we become detached from ourselves in order to see.”  I feel this part of prayer is sometimes forgotten about and people just seem to go through the motions with partial conscious mind, but not their wholly conscious mind.  It thoroughly displays that one has to make time for the divine and prioritize what is truly most important to them.  One has to make time in their schedule for God to be a priority because it is not something that is simply inherited, but rather something that is earned.