"True contemplation is not a psychological trick but a theological grace." Thomas Merton.
What is our culture about? Noise, hurry and rush. We are always on the go. We have to be doing something or we aren't cool. All of the early church fathers knew how to meditate. We need to follow them and be students of contemplative prayer.
So, what is meditation? Foster writes, "listening to God's word, reflecting on God's works, rehearsing God's deeds, ruminating on God's law etc." When we encounter God in this mediation there is stress upon changed behavior as a result of our interaction with him. When we meditate repentence and obedience are what should follow.Simply put, Christian meditation is the ability to hear God's voice and obey his word. We are followers of the living God, do we know his voice? We are followers of the alpha and the omega, do we obey his word? This is what Christian meditation is all about. The more we practice it the clearer God's voice becomes and the more we delight in obeying what he has told us to do. God is among us, just as in the early church he moved and spoke, so He seeks to do as well now.
We are growing into a deeper relationship with God in meditation. We are sinking into a posture of conversation and a way of thinking that is wrapped up in Jesus life and light. It is a "familiar friendship" with the Christ. There should be a mixture of intense intimacy with awestruck reverence. When we have inward fellowship it changes us. "Inward fellowship of this kind transforms the inner personality. We cannot burn the eternal flame of the inner sanctuary and remain the same, for the Divine Fire will consume everything that is impure." Everything that is foreign to this way of living in continual relationship with God is abandoned. Not because of have to, but because of your desire to. When we hear His voice and obey his word we begin to see what following Christ is all about.
"Eastern meditation is an attempt to empty the mind; Christian meditation is an attempt to fill the mind." Eastern thinking is about detachment, but Christian meditation goes beyond this unto attachment for a particular person and lifestyle namely that of the Christ. Meditation does not detach us from the world but firmly roots us in our purpose in it. It send us into the world with a greater perspective and balance. We are seeking to think God's thought after him. To delight in his prescence, to desire his truth and his way.
Learning to meditate will not come by reading this but by actually meditating. We need to set aside time for it! Now, what exactly does it look like to meditate? When God's word becomes a word directly to you. "Just as you would not analyze the words of someone you love, but accpet them as they are said to you, accept the Word of Scripture and ponder it in your heart." Rather than thinking and dwelling on the idea of peace we enter into it. How? Through prayer to God and focusing on His peace, how it is flowing down, in and through us like a stream. The heart, the mind, and the spirit are all awakened to his inflowing peace. Take a verse in scripture such as Ps. 119:105, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules." Think about it, hoow His scriptures teach you and guide you in how to live and act. How is His word shedding light on your life? How are you keeping your oath? How does it change the way you live your life? This is merely one small part of meditation. Learn to meditate by practing it. " Meditation is not a single act, nor can it be completed as you fnish building a chair. It is a way of life." As with all the other disciplines, the point is not doing the discipline but the freedom that it brings! It is not about meditation, rather we use meditation as a means to draw closer to God and experience greater freedom.
p.s.For a fuller explanation see Foster's book.
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