When we hear the word 'meditation' it often brings to mind people sitting around in the lotus postion humming mantras and rolling their eyes into the back of their heads while they attempt to move their being into a higher plane. It's sad that our minds go there as quickly as they do. Especially as Christians, we should have a different image that comes to mind when we think about meditiation, shouldn't we? After all, meditation is straight out of scripture isn't it? Aren't there numerous passages that mention meditation on God's law and on who God is?
"Blessed is the one who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night." Psalm 1:1,2. "Let me understand the teaching of your precepts; then I will meditate on your wonders." Psalm 119:27. "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." Joshua 1:8.
And there are others. Meditation is not something that any New Age cult or wacky self-betterment group owns. It's one of many ways that God communes with his people, if we are willing to enter into it.
It's striking to me that I don't think that I've ever met a Christian who meditated on scripture.... or on God.... or on Creation.... or on the person of Jesus.... or on..... well..... anything. Maybe I wasn't listening well (a distinct possibility!), or maybe the solitary discipline of meditation is solitary and doesn't necessarily get shared within the community of faith, but it seems to me that if scripture commands it and if it's an important means of communing with God then there should be some mode of sharing what meditation is and how we should do it.
Why don't we talk about it much?
Maybe it's because meditation doesn't jibe with our culture, at all, even a little bit. Our culture is hustle and bustle and noise and marketing, and stuff, and everything that meditation isn't. Our culture wants to fill every space with advertising or with sound or with iPods, iPhones, and iStuff. The idea of quieting things down and filling ourselves with, well with nothing except God and his presence uncogs the wheels and doesn't work for our society. That's so outside of our experience. It's so unusual. It's so... weird.
But what if meditation isn't something that's supposed to just leave us relaxed and streesfree and calm? What if it has little to do with us and everything to do with God in us? Perhaps if we understood meditation as a deeper, wider, vibrant and growing opportunity to build relationship with God then it wouldn't be so weird to us. Perhaps it would become an opportunity to listen and be still and truly enjoy God's presence in a new way that would empower and equip us with his Spirit in completely different ways then we've ever known before.
Richard Foster puts it this way. "If you feel that we live in a purely physical universe, you will view meditation as a good way to obtain a consistent alpha brain-wave pattern. (Transcendental Meditation) But if you believe that we live in a universe created by the infinite personal God who delights in our communion with Him, you will see meditation as a communication between the Lover and the one beloved."
Oh how I want more of that! How I need more of that! To find stolen moments to receive God's love in a deeper, more meaningful way? To know his grace more fully so that I might share it with others? Sign me up.
That being said, I'm going to have some learning to do. I don't know how to meditate well. In fact, I don't think I know how to meditate on God's Word at all. I'm going to have to learn. I'm going to have to find some resources.
And most importantly, I'm going to have to learn to be still and know that he is God. And that might be the hardest work of all.
Thanks for the reminder. I've read "Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life" and was drawn to the chapter on Meditation, but as you said, it's something that doesn't happen often because you need quiet and solitude (another discipline we don't get much of). As a lover of words, I found it incredibly powerful to focus on each word of a verse while meditating. I think his example was, "Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet..." When you emphasize each word individually, it makes the phrase so much richer and more meaningful.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love your phrase "stolen moments to receive God's love."
During my wild and crazy college days, I spent some time at our campus meditation center. I even attended a workshop on Vipassana Meditation, which was developed in India supposedly by a buddha but in practice is a non-sectarian meditation technique that simply focuses on clearing the thoughts out of your mind. I felt very close to God, my creator during those times. I've never talked about it much because of a fear of potential negative reactions from Christian friends. It's nice to hear you talk about meditation as a biblical practice. I, too, have often thought about it in this way.
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