2. Reflection
Leisure by H W Davies.
TIME TO STAND AND STARE
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in
grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight, What do you think the poet is trying to
Streams full of stars, like skies at say about life?
night.
A poor life this if, full of care, The poet uses a lot of images from
We have no time to stand and stare. nature. Why do you think this is so?
Do you agree with the poets words:
“A poor life this if, full of care we have
no time to stand and stare”? Why /
why not?
3. Asking questions – finding answers
in reflection
When we take time to reflect in life we get
great benefits
• e.g awareness of…
• second chances…
• opportunity to make improvements …
• Can you complete the sentences?
4. Awe and Wonder
Sometimes people
are able to look back
and recognise that a
certain experience
filled them with awe
and wonder and
made them ask
questions about the
mystery of life.
5. Learning to sail
It had all been worth it. For four days I had struggled to get the hang
of sailing. There had been days when I had spent more time in the
water than on the boat and I had wondered if I would ever get to grips
with this new sport. But, today it had all come together. Everything
had fallen into place and I had been able to sail around the island
without capsizing once. For the first time, as we sailed towards the
quay I became aware of the beauty around me: of the evening sun
bathing the mountains in a soft light, of the seagulls bobbing up and
down on the gentle waves, of the elegance of the sailing boats
around me as we sailed for home. All that beauty filled me with awe
and wonder.
As I looked around I began to reflect: Who creates this
beauty? Is it nature or is it God? As I sailed for home
I began to question where the beauty in our world
came from.
6. • What did the author notice for notice for
the first time as she sailed towards the
quay?
• How did the beauty of the evening affect
her?
• What questions did she reflect on?
7. Mystery of Life
• People sometimes say Life Experiences: Life Experiences:
that personal experiences Beauty of nature Sickness
have made them wonder
and reflect on the Reading a book Holidays
mystery of life .
Listening to music Learning a new
• Have any of the hobby
experiences listed below A Birth Being involved in a
car accident
made you reflect on
A Death A friendship
mystery in life? breaking up
8. Activity
Discuss with your partner and describe how two
of these experiences made you reflect on life.
Life Experiences: Reflection on Experience:
•Have you ever been filled with awe and wonder?
•What questions did this experience cause you to
ask?
10. Questioning - An Essential
Human Characteristic
• All living things have certain common
characteristics. All living things, however,
are not equal.
• The column on the next slide contains a
list of some of the characteristics of living
organisms. Tick the ones that apply to the
categories of Plant Life, Animal Life and
Human Life
11. Plant Life Animal Life Human Life
V V V
Growth
V
Movement
Reproduction
Respiration
Excretion
Communication
Relationships
Learning
Questioning
Thinking
Reflection -
12. • Is it safe to assume that the category with the
most number of ticks is the most complex form
of life? Justify your answer.
• How many of the three categories show the
characteristic of questioning?
• How important is the characteristic of
questioning to human beings? Explain your
answer.
13. Asking Questions
• Life can often appear strange and confusing.
There are many things about it that we cannot
understand. Often we are left with many
questions.
• Part of what makes us human is our ability to
ask questions. We look at the world around us
and we wonder what's holding it in place. Who
created it...?
• We listen to the news. We see sad things
happening. We wonder why this had to happen.
• When we ask questions it is a sign that we are
becoming mature, we are beginning to look at
life more deeply.
15. Suggestions
• Who am I?
• Why is the wind invisible?
• Why do people believ in God?
• Who is going to town?
• Why is there evil in the world?
• Is it wrong to use animals for research?
• How do I get to the post office?
• Why are some people happier than others?
• Why does the sun shine?
• Are we there yet?
16. Questions humans ask at
different stages in their life.
• All of us have questions about our life,
even from the time that we are young
children.
• A few years ago you might have been
asking 'What's Santa going to bring me for
Christmas?' Now you might be asking 'I
wonder how I'll do in my Junior Cert.?'
17. Poem From a Three Year Old,
Brendan Kennelly
And will the flowers die?
And will the people die?
And every day do you grow old, do I
Grow old, no I’m not old, do
Flowers grow old?
Old things – do you throw them out?
Do you throw old people out?
And how do you know a flower
that’s old?
The petals fall, the petals fall from
flowers,
And do the petals fall from people
too? How many questions are asked
……… . by the three year old?
……… What are these questions about?
And who will bring new flowers?
And who will bring new people?
And will the new young flowers die? Which of these questions are
And will the new young people die? about the meaning of life?
And why? What questions of meaning do
teenagers ask?
What questions of meaning do
adults ask?
18. • Many of the questions that people ask are
about the meaning of life
