Recently, I’ve been pondering how to best balance the active and contemplative life. As a student, my role is primarily to contemplate and engage in the life of the mind. However, I often wonder how this is best balanced with the active life–the life of outward-facing pursuits, deeply rooted in physical work. How do I take the ideas that I’m contemplating and truly live them out, much less live them out well? While I’ve been considering this particularly in the context of student life, this role will not last forever. This tension between the two lives carries over into the broader career and vocational world, no matter where I am or what I do. Thus, I think it important to ask, how ought we to balance the life of the mind and the physical life that we are given?
Perhaps the best place to start is to recognize that both the active and contemplative lives are gifts. It is a gift, not a given, that we have the capability to engage in the life of the mind and the life of activity. Our mental and physical faculties are subject to natural deterioration over time, as well as the potential of grave injury or disaster, even death. From this, we understand that every breath is a gift. Furthermore, as we are given the fundamental, biological necessities for life, we are also given an opportunity to contemplate, to study, to learn, to engage in intellectual pursuits. Throughout history and our modern day world, it is truly a privilege to have the leisure to commit so much time to intellectual pursuits and studying.
We are given the opportunity to participate in the life of the mind, and we are also given the active life. We are given bodies to move with, places to dwell in and communities to serve in. We are given opportunities daily to step outside of ourselves and love those around us. All of these beautiful things–biological life itself, the life of the mind, and the life of action and service–are not givens, but blessings we get to receive, steward, and further pass along. Thus, the framework from which we ponder the balance between contemplation and action ought to be one of gratitude, gratitude that we even get to consider how to best balance these two wonderful aspects of living. Our very capabilities to engage in life in such a way are gifts, not givens, and so perhaps this should also motivate us to invite others into receiving these gifts alongside us.
As we gratefully seek a balance between the active and contemplative life, the Ancient Roman philosopher and orator Cicero, in his discourse “Laelius: On Friendship”, poses a potential answer to our question:
“If a man ascended into heaven and gazed upon the whole workings of the universe and the beauty of the stars, the marvelous sight would give him no joy if he had to keep it to himself. And yet, if only there had been someone to describe the spectacle to, it would have filled him with delight. Nature abhors solitude, and always demands that every thing should have some support to rely upon. For any human being, the best support of all is a good friend.”
Cicero implies that the life of the mind–a life of wonder and contemplation of the cosmos–would not just have something missing, but would be devoid of joy if it could not be shared. Thus, in order to fully experience the contemplative life, we must engage in the active life so that we can cultivate the friendship required to live well. Friendship must be cultivated, pursued and cherished in order for it to grow. Cultivating, pursuing and cherishing–these are all active states. According to Cicero, through the active state of friendship, our capacity grows to contemplate well. We can finally delight in pondering the universe and the Great Ideas when we do it with others. However, in order to preserve our friendships, our contemplative living and our active living in service must be interwoven. In order to either contemplate or act well, we need friends to rely on.
Thus, perhaps, it is through living out true, dedicated friendship, that we balance the active and contemplative lives.
After all, if Cicero is right and we are made to share life with others, then the Good Life is comprised of the active pursuit of friends who will contemplate and delight in Beauty with us, and this active sharing of Beauty then deepens our friendships and opens new, distinct possibilities in the life of the mind. Through friendship, we learn to balance our intellectual lives and our lives of service, as in order to maintain true friendship, we must be the friend that can be relied upon–just as we rely upon our friends.
Friendship enables us to experience the beauty of the world around us and the wealth of the life of the mind. Friendship forces us to toe the line between the active and contemplative lives but gives us a fellow pursuer of Truth, a friend, to lean on as we learn the balance. Friendship gives us a space to both contemplate ideas and to live them out.
So, no matter what balance of active and contemplative living your career or vocation promotes, I ask you to ponder what it looks like to invest deeply in your community. Consider choosing the hard road of human relationships–for within the framework of friendship, the world unfolds with new possibilities and beauty in unexpected places. Give the gift of friendship as the gift of life is given to you, knowing that contemplation holds infinitely more joy when actively pursued in relationship with other beautiful people.
It is not good that man should be alone. This is the Good Life, the active and contemplative lives intertwined by friendship.
To quote Wendell Berry, “Its hardship is its possibility.”
Christian Lengkeek 
Colin Tomczak