Storms in my life are often reminders to seek the solid ground of spiritual disciplines that I have laid aside or let lapse. They are invitations to explore new disciplines that I have never allowed to sink into my life.
So, I have gotten Richard J. Foster’s Celebration of Discipline back off my bookshelf and started my apprenticeship back up again.
Today, I read his chapter on meditation.
In it, he draws an important distinction between Eastern forms of meditation – which focus on emptying of the self and detachment – with Christian meditation, which is an attempt to fill the mind and obtain a deeper attachment to God.
What happens in meditation is that we create the emotional and spiritual space which allows Christ to construct an inner sanctuary in the heart. The wonderful verse ‘I stand at the door and knock …’ was originally penned for believers not unbelievers (Rev. 3:20). We who have turned our lives over to Christ need to know how very much he longs to eat with us, to commune with us. He desires a perpetual Eucharistic feast in the inner sanctuary of the heart.
Meditation, Foster writes, is the discipline that allows Christ to set up a sanctuary in the heart that we carry with us even when we are not in the moment of meditation.
That sounds good to me.
This week – and on going – I will be putting in to practice two of the meditation techniques Foster outlines in his chapter.
Meditation on Scripture – This one will be difficult for me because the point of meditating on Scripture is not to analyze it or study it, but to “internalize and personalize it.” Meditation on Scripture seeks to make the word or verse a word to you and about you. See. Feel. Hear. Taste. Touch. Enter into it.
My impulses are all to analyze and dissect. Meditation will be a learning experience.
Palms Down. Palms Up. – In this meditation, you begin with palms down and hand over to God – release to God – all that burdens you and causes anxiety. Let go of your concerns as you verbalize them out loud or silently. Then turn palms up to receive from the Lord. You may again put words to what you receive.
I take Foster’s word near the end of the chapter as my guide.
You must not be discouraged if in the beginning your meditations have little meaning to you. There is a progression in the spiritual life, and it is wise to have some experience with lesser peaks before trying to tackle the Mt. Everest of the soul. So be patient with yourself. Besides, you are learning a discipline for which you have received no training. Nor does our culture encourage you to develop these skills. You will be going against the tide, but take heart; your task is of immense worth.
I am a part-time local pastor serving 
The doctrine of original sin is surely more humbling to man than the opposite: And I know not what honour we can pay to God, if we think man came out of His hands in the condition wherein he is now.
