Adam Engstrom
4/8/2016
Contemplation Paper

Many go through life but never feel like they have full, complete lives. However, Aristotle, Kathleen Norris, and Mark Buchanan are firm on their views that there are three essential processes that must be done to achieve inner peace and blissful life. Even though the three have slightly different opinions on the importance of leisure, contemplative practice, and happiness, they all consider them essential for a full and complete life.
It was clear that Aristotle had strong thoughts on the importance on contemplation. He claims that virtue can come in a variety of ways, including bravery, courage, and temperance. However, there is a greater virtue, which is the virtue of contemplation. He claims that contemplation is not achievable through the same methods that other virtues are achieved. To achieve this virtue, one must find time for a leisure activity that leads to deep happiness. Through this method, it allows one to seek out and find true virtue. While leisure is the way to contemplation, it is not possible without other virtues such as temperance and justice. “We must have leisure to attain these ends” (Presentation). Aristotle also presented an important element in achieving virtue when he stated, “A reflective person through inquiry can find true virtue, which allows them to recognize it, practice it and attain true happiness”(Presentation). According to Aristotle, not all leisure is the same and will bring on different types of happiness. Pleasurable activities can lose their pleasure by doing them repeatedly. Only through contemplation will one be lead to a deep happiness. “Happiness is worth choosing for its own sake because it is complete and self sufficient” (Aristotle 66). Happiness is the result of living a virtuous life. Practicing virtue leads to a full and deep happiness that cannot be reached in any other way.
While Aristotle would stress that happiness is at the center of contemplation, Kathleen Norris’s views were slightly different. The interactions that Kathleen had with the monks, students and society visibly shaped her understanding on contemplation and rest. God shows that people need leisure and a time to rest and to contemplate the things that matter. “God wanted me empty, alone, silent, and watchful. I was suffering from both severe laryngitis and a lame leg, and had to laugh at my self, wondering if I really were so dense that God had to resort to these extremes in order to get me to shut up and be still”(Norris 38). While it might not have been god that bestowed her misfortune upon her, it is clear that Norris had a change of heart towards leisure. She had been so busy with her daily life that she had forgotten it is essential to take time out of her day and relax.
The book of Psalms had a huge impact on Kathleen. It was obvious that she thought it was crucial, when praying the Psalms, which is the keystone of Benedictine liturgy, out loud was in itself a form of contemplation, reflection, and praise. She established her views on the importance of Psalms when she said, ”Though all the books in the Bible, the Psalms speak most directly to the individual, they cannot be removed from a communal context” (Norris 93). While others think that it is important for people to be alone with their thoughts while reading the Bible, Norris does not. She believes that true reflection does not occur independent of one’s surroundings and communal influences. She stated, “To say or sing the psalms aloud within a community is to recover religion as an oral tradition, restoring to our mouths words that have been snatched from our tongues and relegated to the page, words that have been privatized and effectively silenced”(Norris 100). A key point that Norris brought up about contemplation was how Psalms are especially influential in their ability to instill true contemplation because of their insistence that “the mundane and the holy are inextricably linked”(Norris 93). Using the long pauses and silences through the Benedictine method of reading the Psalms, it “allows the Psalms their full poetic power, their use of imagery and hyperbole” along with “almost alarming room for interpretation and response”(Norris 93). While most people would rather spend time reading scripture alone in silence, Norris believed that reading it aloud would bring greater meaning to the text.
Similar to Aristotle, Buchanan emphasizes the necessity of having a leisure day through the Sabbath. The time should be set aside to remember, reflect, and anticipate what God would like one to do. He believed that just as one would prepare for Communion with reverence and awe, one should also approach the Sabbath as a whole with the same respect. The Sabbath is meant as a day of rest and reflection on God.
The Idea of silence corresponding to contemplative thought was certainly evident through out The Rest of God. Buchannan stated that, “Silence is the condition for true listening. But I have too little of it. Silence came visiting and found me already occupied. The element of silence is for me scanty and thin”(Buchannan 178). This is interesting because it seems to be in direct contrast with Norris’ view of communal worship. A story that stood out was when he wrote about his camping experience. It had been raining for his first day camping but on the second day, everything cleared up. That night, the winds were still as he got into his tent. Lying there in the silence made him feel and hear things that he had not been paying attention to. The smell of the wetness, and the sounds of insects were all that he could hear. All of a sudden, chill ran through him as he heard the wolves start to howl in the distance. “It was the most beautiful, most terrifying sound I’ve ever known”(Buchannan 180). Even today, when he needs peace, Buchanan thinks of lying in that silent tent listening to the distant howl of the wolves.
Over the next two years, I have the potential to be very busy. With graduation quickly approaching, I feel like there is an abundance of tasks that I need to accomplish. On the top of my priority list is finding a job and a place to live along with many other tasks. If I don’t deliberately put time aside for leisure, I am afraid that I will not have any. After hearing what Buchanan, Norris, and Aristotle had to say about leisure, I will take that to heart and set aside time for leisure.
I am a strong believer of Aristotle when he said, “We must have leisure to attain these ends.” When you see people working all the time or stressed out over tasks they have to do, they will never feel the satisfaction of finishing, as one will who completes in a leisurely way. That isn’t to say that the constantly working person does not do a good job or get it done earlier; that is why they are working hard in the first place. I am saying that people who do the task in a way of leisure will not only enjoy the end results but will enjoy the process as well.
A quote by Benjamin Franklin that I read last month that stood out to me was, “Leisure is the time for doing something useful. This leisure the diligent person will obtain the lazy one never.“ It is interesting how even Benjamin Franklin realized the importance of leisure. To me, this means that through the art of leisure, one can accomplish great tasks, even when it seems like a fun task that one is doing. I love the outdoors so I felt connected to Buchanan when he was talking about his camping trip. For the past eight years (and will continue after I graduate), my family, along with another family, has gone up to the boundary waters. It is there that I feel at ease with nothing to worry about. Even though paddling all day and carrying the packs and canoes over the portages can seem like hard work, it is leisure to me. Through this experience, Aristotle’s view on happiness and virtue leading to contemplation also apply since I choose what my happiness is and through that, I gain virtue. The feeling of being almost completely alone in nature is where I am able to be alone with my thoughts and have inner peace, which brings me happiness. It is clear that each of the authors have their own, slightly different opinion on the means to achieve contemplation but they all agree that leisure, contemplative practice, and happiness are essential to achieving that goal. These ideas should be engraved in those who want to lead a good and happy life. Just like the authors had different opinions on how to achieve those goals, each individual will achieve true contemplation through their own unique ways. Looking at what I have to go through in the boundary Waters, I am certain that others would not find happiness through that. However, every person has some form of activity that will bring him or her inner peace.

Bibliography:

Ritchie, Daniel. “The Ethics and Politics of Aristotle.” Bethel University. GES456P-1-2016-Leisure and the Rest of Life. Web. 4/2/2016

Norris, Kathleen. The Cloister Walk. New York: Riverhead, 1996. Print.

Buchanan, Mark. The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath. Nashville, TN: W Pub. Group, 2006. Print.