Meditationi: A Response

I appreciate Jeff and Jefe's response to my post on meditation (see below). I like the idea of meditation being a mumbling type of working things out. That's exactly what my experience was like, trying to figure out the nature of God. Fat chance of that this side of heaven, but it's a nice thought. I kept going over and over in my mind the many names and ideas of God crammed into my head over my life. Then the questioning began. What do I know about God? How has my past experiences in the faith impacted positively or negatively my idea about who God is? Perhaps I wasn't even mediating in the strictest sense of the word. I was trying to figure things out. I also think Jeff's concerns about the role of meditation (or lack thereof) in a Christian's life. Especially coming from his background as a Buddhist. That is why whenever I try a new spiritual discipline or go back to one I haven't done in a while I try to not take it lightly. Let's face it, I could be very wrong about this and the last thing I want to do is cause my brother or sister to stray. If you feel that this is something that shouldn't be done, don't do it. If you think that as a brother I am in error then by all means give me council to help put me on the right path. Which is what I thought both Jefe and Jeff tried to do.

Spiritual Discipline: Meditation

I need to do a better job blogging about the subject of Spiritual Discipline. It is extremely important to our spiritual growth, but for some reason I fail to actually write down my impressions about it. Or, in this case, my struggles with it. Meditation is kind of a thorny issue for people in and out of the church. I can't say I blame them. When I bring up the idea of meditation people start to think of Zen Meditation, Yoga, or the like. We lose ourselves to enter the great loss of self into the greater cloud of souls. Or something. We lose ourselves. While with the Christian version we are to try to enter the presence of God. At least, that's what I think we are supposed to do. Perhaps we can also spend it focussing on scripture. In this case I didn't start with anything in particular in mind. I tried to quite myself to hear the voice of God. Which lasted for all about five seconds as I started to wonder what I'll have for dinner. So I switched gears and tried to think about God, which moved onto the names of God, and then the greatness of God. I made a trail of thought from a vague idea as to who God is to the more specific God is the Lion of Judah! Does it help me gain a better understanding of God? Does it help me to know Him more? I do not know. This is such a foreign territory for me that I can't say whether it is being beneficial or not. On top of that I am not sure what benefit it will have for me and my spiritual growth. What I do know is I am inconsistent with practicing these disciplines and perhaps I'll gain a better understanding as I do them.

Spiritual Disciplines: The Stations Of The Cross

I do not know if this actually qualifies as a spiritual discipline, but there was a qaulity to it that makes me wish I could do it more often. I belong to a protestant church so the fact we are actually doing our own version of the stations is interesting. What is sad is that I have already done our stations of the cross more times in the three years at my current church than I ever did as a Catholic. I remember Sister Margaret taking my CCD class around my church's sanctuary going over each of the beautifully wooden hand carved stations. I can't tell you all the time I stared at those pictures totally ignoring mass. It wasn't so much out of spiritual curiosity, but more for the fact that they were kind of gruesome and pretty cool to look at. Our protestantized version didn't offer images. Instead each station was an object that allowed us to touh, taste, and smell the life of Christ. It made it more tangible and real to feel the ropes that bound his wrists, smell the perfume used to annoint him, and eat of the bread from the last supper. At the center of it all was a giant wooden cross we had to nail a piece of paper with a sin to. It is amazing to how meditating on a few objects to coincide with the life of Christ can really make Him more real in our lives. I can't recall the last time Christ felt more personal and alive to me. It was such an act of worship. So powerful. I think if I were to do it more than a few times a year it wouldn't have as much meaning as it does now. Unlike prayer or worship this is such a unique opportunity that it can become trite and meaningless with over use. It is amazing. When I was younger I tried so hard to get away from the older styles of worship, but now I look forward to the opportunity it brings to my spiritual life.

Spiritual Disciplines: Walking The Path

All I asked for was a book that would help me grow as a Christian and develop my spiritual maturity. Usually people recommend books lacking any substantive or practical advice on trusting Jesus or whatever. In this case I got more than I asked for when someone told me about book on the active practice of various disciplines that are meant to strengthen our walk with God through fasting, Bible Study, meditation, etc. Making these practices a part of your life are challenging. I read the book twice and only made a handful of half-hearted attempts. How many times have any of us promised to fast only to gobble down an entire bag of chips? What I am hoping to do is to post whenever I actually attempt one of the disciplines to share my experiences both successes and failures. Though I do think these disciplines are important to our spiritual growth they aren’t meant to be taken lightly and if you have any doubts about them speak to your pastor or someone you trust. I have done that myself as I attempt to practice each of these disciplines to know the proper way (if any) that they are meant to be practiced.

I am starting off with a prayer labyrinth which is an odd choice since it was a tool more closely associated with Greek pagan culture than with Christian practice. Whenever a church adds a prayer labyrinth extreme heat follows. I didn’t take walking the prayer labyrinth lightly as I asked my buddy Ken, who walked it before, the pro’s and con’s of walking the maze. As for the labyrinth itself it isn’t like mazes we played with during school rainy days which have a single path through the maze with many turns and dead ends to lead you away from the main path. The prayer labyrinth is only a single path leading to the center which you have to retrace to get out again. If you do choose to try it there are two things you need to do before hand to prepare yourself for this experience. First, pray for guidance. Many well meaning Christians lose their way in the pursuit of spiritual disciplines. For instance, One-ness Pentecostalism was born when a man having an all night vigil had a “revelation: about the true nature of God. Second, you need to have a tentative plan of what you are going to think, pray, or meditate on while you are walking the path. Third, be aware of your steps. If you aren’t paying attention you will cross over a line breaking the path. I hate to admit it happened to me twice. My mistake was I went having no set plans and both times got lost in my own imagination making my mind jump around on matters of faith and whether I should have chicken for dinner. This time I had the plan to concentrate on a portion of 1 Peter chapter 1, chewing on the words, and seeking God’s guidance. Walking the labyrinth forced me to be strict confines being very conscientious of my steps. I couldn’t rush, my steps became well paced, stopping every now and again to look at the scripture to remind myself of the important words of God. Sometimes placing a strict confine on your actions can be helpful in opening yourself up to the work of God in your heart. If I were to rush through is to miss the beauty of walking with God. Looking back I could have just as easily had the same result walking through the park lost in God’s grace around me. And in the middle of my walk the bells of the local church started to ring… Gravy!

Recommended further reading: I kept this part until the end so you could decide for yourselves what you thought about the matter. Though I'd say my experience was positive I still am a bit wary considering the maze's past. Here are some readings on it both pro and con.

I don't know who these people are that wrote these articles, but they are very critical of prayer labyrinths. I mean very critical and they make some valid points.

Of course the Wikipedia entry. It speaks for itself.

I am suprised to find this article in the Christian Standard. Aren't they a staunch right wing magazine? Or am I wrong? here is the pro side.