Communing with God (Meditation and contemplation ) Essay

Communing with God (Meditation and contemplation ) - Essay Example Meditation is more of a response to something like after reading a passage in the Bible. Meditation is to study God’s Word and to think of ways in which it can be applied in one’s day-to-day life. Literally, meditation is defined as: "the act of meditating; continued or extended thought; reflection; contemplation; transcendental meditation; devout religious contemplation or spiritual introspection."1 Contemplation, on the other hand, is defined as: "the act of contemplating; thoughtful observation; full or deep consideration; reflection: religious contemplation; purpose or intention; prospect or expectation."2 Meditation is more of a response to something like after reading a passage in the Bible. Meditation is to study God's Word and to think of ways in which it can be applied in one's day-to-day life. Contemplation is more of reflecting without necessarily using any reading material. It is an act of deep, thoughtful thinking that leads to a renewed mind and heart.3 Th ese two terms often come together and are usually associated with prayer.The Christian faith has prayer as one of its major pillars. One has to communicate with God and vice versa. Humans talk to God in prayer and God talks to humans through the Bible. It is in this manner where meditation and contemplation enter in. Through this exercise, man learns discipline, calmness and a sense of security. Through constant mediation and contemplation, one becomes more "spiritual" and "holy."The Buddhists also practice meditation. This is done to discipline the mind and the body. Yoga is "a school of Hindu philosophy advocating and prescribing a course of physical and mental disciplines for attaining liberation from the material world and union of the self with the Supreme Being or ultimate principle."4 Both the Christians and the Buddhists believe that by subjugating the body through meditation and contemplation, one is able to reach a higher level of spirituality. Why is there a need to subjugate the body and make it submit to one's mind Father Rolheiser's book5 leads the reader to the reason why humans need to commune with God. It also serves as a guide to those who are aspiring to be spiritual. According to Rolheiser, every healthy Christian should possess the four essentials of living such as: "private prayer and private morality; social justice; mellowness of heart and spirit; and community as a constitutive element of true worship."6 We are always "restless, dissatisfied, frustrated, and aching. We are so overcharged with desire that it is hard to come to simple rest. Desire is always stronger than satisfaction."7 About two years ago, I was so depressed and downcast because my mother was lying in the hospital bed for almost a month without any sign of recovery. The doctors kept telling us that if she would cooperate, she could get better. Sleepless nights had really affected me and I became irritable, impatient and irrational. In order to avoid further damage to my relationship with my siblings, I decided to "go away" for a while. I drove some 100 miles from the hospital, stayed in my mother's house and just literally "kill time." When news came that my mother was already in comma and would pass away any moment, I had the urge of going back to her side immediately. However, deep within me is a prompting that even if I get near her that very moment, I could not reverse anything. So I attended a church prayer meeting, listened carefully to the preacher and silently meditated on God's Word. As I sat still in silence, I felt a certain calmness that I have not experienced for a long time. There was this sense of peace

Human Resource Development in UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Human Resource Development in UK - Essay Example As manpower is cheap in developing countries, these countries could concentrate on providing training for jobs that do not require such high skills. Similarly, there are developing countries that wish to compete with the advanced countries in producing specialized goods and services. To produce high-technology products would require the necessary arrangements and investments for long term research along with expensive and complex production equipment. However, providing the right environment for the skilled human resources would make them perform better. For a job to be done well, not only is a person required to have inherent talent, but also be provided with the latest skills in that particular industry. Sometime, they can be made to have the skill by hiring them from outside the organisation. But it is difficult to achieve this by training and developing the present employees. Human Resource Development (HRD) is a planned curriculum that is used in order to invest in human capital. Development of human resources is one of the most important contributors to the success of the UK economy. It draws on other human resource processes, for example resourcing and performance evaluation, so that the real and probable talent can be recognized. HRD helps to present a structure for self-development, training courses and career progression. We will recover in the following HRD at the environmental level, HRD and the organization, the learning organization, Development programmes, induction, Empowerment and HRD and Leadership development. HRD at the environmental level In order to respond to the changing demands of the job market, human capital development should be in the form of education and skills training. Some skills are a rarity even when there is high employment. Newswire Today reports that in 2007 a report was issued by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) entitled "UK Skills: Making the Grade". This report was based on a survey of over 300 employers in the UK. According to this report, 55% of the employers who were evaluated were finding it more difficult to employ skilled workers now as compared to the five years ago. In order to find a solution to this problem, in the same year the UK Government announced the major expansion in skills investment for England of over 11 billion for each of the next three years. The total spending on learning and skills is likely to increase to 12.3 billion in a year by 2010/11. This is comparing with the 6.5 billion spent in 2001/02 (Department for Innovation, Universities & Skills, n.d.). There are many differences in education and training levels in the many countries around the world. For example, in Germany, they consider technology and production as high status activities. In their opinion, to succeed in some areas, employees must have a high level of technical training. Thus German businesses give greater importance to technical advantage than those in the UK. In the UK, it is not only technology that is important but other areas as well, even the ones unconnected to the engineering and technical side. A case in point could be the Film Industry in Britain. It is only recently that the Film Industry has been credited, but it is a fact that the UK has tried to make it successful. For this purpose, the Film Industry