Meditation: The Basics

In the week ahead we will take a brief look at the Spiritual Discipline of Mediation. This will serve as an introduction to the Discipline. In January of 2014, we will spend the entire month looking at the Discipline of Meditation in greater depth.

Today I'd like to cover the basics: the what and why, plus the when and where of Meditation. Tomorrow we'll talk more about the "how."

Richard Foster, in Celebration of Discipline, describes Christian Meditation as "simply ... the ability to hear God’s voice and obey his word." Christian Meditation differs from Eastern and secular mediation in that, instead of emptying our minds, we are filling our minds with ... and obeying ... God's word. We will explore more of the differences in the week ahead and also in more depth in January. For now, we need only see that Christian Mediation calls us to seek God through the various ways he talks with us and to act upon the lessons we learn. God longs to communicate with us. He stands at the door and knocks. When we let him in, through the practice of Meditation, we grow more sensitive to his voice. Meditation is hearing, then obeying.

Foster also explains: "In meditation we are growing into what Thomas à Kempis calls 'a familiar friendship with Jesus.' We are sinking down into the light and life of Christ and becoming comfortable in that posture. The perpetual presence of the Lord (omnipresence, as we say) moves from a theological dogma into a radiant reality. 'He walks with me and he talks with me' ceases to be pious jargon and instead becomes a straightforward description of daily life."

To know the mind of Christ ... what a worthy goal and wonderful experience. Christian Meditation allows us to, quoting Foster again, "create the emotional and spiritual space which allows Christ to construct an inner sanctuary in the heart" Foster, Richard Celebration of Discipline, HarperCollins, p. 20
This week I hope we can begin this inner journey together.

The "when and where" are individual decisions. I'll be using my morning quiet time, in my "Sacred Chair," to begin my practice of Christian Meditation. As Foster suggests, "Find a place that is quiet and free from interruption. No telephone should be nearby. If it is possible to find some place that looks out onto a lovely landscape, so much the better. It is best to have one designated place rather than hunting for a different spot each day."

I hope you will find a specific time each day and a special place to put your heart and mind within God's reach. Meditation calls us away from the busyness of our lives into a quiet space where we can hear the 'still, small voice' of the Lord. Are you listening?