Moses calls upon the people to reflect upon their history, for reflection is a part of religion. We do not passively receive and respond to the words of God: we must consciously and responsibly accept them and reflect upon them so as to respond freely and lovingly.

In the same way, we do not just undergo or suffer whatever happens to us in history. We now realize that the events of life, of our own personal history, of our family history and so on are vehicles for God's communication with us. A good spiritual guideline for dealing with the events of our life is to pause and ask: "What is God telling me through this?" Slowly we will develop an even greater sensitivity to the loving presence of God in our lives so that we will reflect: "Where is the gift in this?" "What grace is the Lord offering me through this event?" This applies to all things: happiness and sorrow, good fortune and suffering. We can adapt Moses' reflective questions to our own needs and so raise our consciousness to a higher level, where we can look beyond mere events to the special loving care which the Lord has for us.