8. Knowledge of self and knowledge of God require reflective capacity.
(Before looking at the questions below, take a few minutes to think about this statement. Invite Jesus to speak to you about what He would like you to notice.)
HOW OFTEN DO YOU FIND YOURSELF DAYDREAMING, OR JUST THINKING ABOUT SOMETHING?
HOW OFTEN DO YOU FIND YOURSELF THINKING ABOUT YOURSELF, YOUR LIFE, THE PERSON YOU ARE BECOMING?
HOW OFTEN DO YOU FIND YOURSELF THINKING ABOUT GOD?
Self-awareness, as it is practiced in culture and counseling, does not typically include a spiritual dimension. We grow in self-awareness as we learn to reflect on ourselves, to notice our thoughts, emotions, body impulses, and feedback from others. This practice of reflecting can also be done in ways that include a spiritual element: listening to the Spirit within us, receiving feedback from Jesus, and learning to know God. The Bible speaks of meditation as a way of reflecting, typically focused on a portion of Scripture. Contemplation is another form of reflecting in which we simply invite God to pick the topic and speak and commune with us. We can speak, then, of possessing an ability to reflect that leads to more than just self-awareness.
Reflective capacity can be defined as the ability to see the non-material aspects of our reality. It helps us understand the deeper meaning of our life events and experiences; it is our ability to be aware of ourselves, our thoughts, emotions, and experiences, and it also includes the ability to notice God. Reflective capacity includes self-awareness, but it is more. It is what we use to connect with God, hear God, notice the Spirit, and abide with Jesus.
Reflective capacity requires development--we are born with the potential, but we must develop it. The word capacity refers to the idea that we can expand an ability in both its effectiveness and frequency. Everyone has the potential, but not everyone develops their potential. In our culture of materialism, visual stimulation, distractions, busyness, and appearance, developing reflective capacity is difficult and many people struggle to develop their capacity. Jesus told the people of His day to repent, and His words are no less relevant to us today. The word “repent”, that He used often in the gospels, can refer to the act of “thinking about what you are thinking” or “rethinking what you think”. It is essentially an invitation to be reflective.
In Matthew 13 Jesus says, “In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them’ (14-15, NIV). Jesus said this when his disciples asked why He taught in parables. Jesus explains that, essentially, people have no reflective capacity, no ability to understand the deeper things and so by teaching in parables, by not giving people the easy answers, He is hoping that they would develop this capacity. Furthermore, Jesus tells the disciples that if people did in fact, “see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn,” that He “would heal them.”
Reflective capacity ultimately leads to becoming aware of God. As we grow to reflect on the non-material, spiritual aspects of our life and world, we will at some point come in contact with the God who is spiritual. Jesus knew this and used parables as a practice to help develop reflective capacity in His listeners. Jesus knew that if people could develop the ability to see and hear with their inner self, their hearts, they would find God. Self-awareness requires reflective capacity and leads to knowing ourselves.
But reflective capacity is more than self-awareness. Not only can we see and know ourselves, but we also can come to know God and receive His life-giving healing. Reflective capacity is our ability to hear the Spirit that lives within us, to see God with the eyes of our hearts, to experience the presence and guidance of Jesus, and to develop a relationship with this Trinitarian spiritual reality.