Faith Venture

A few days ago I visited a small group of committed Christian men devoted to the discipline of study. During the discussion, the discipline of meditation came up and many seemed uncomfortable with the concept. They evidently thought it was some sort of hippie, new-age thing.

Yes, The Beatles went to India and visited the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and popularized what is called Transcendental Meditation. You know, “Oooohhhmmmmm.” I taught a Yoga practice to a group of disadvantaged young people at a community center for a few weeks and when I told them to sit and listen to their breaths, several started chanting Om. Weird. They had no clue.

Then one (back to the study group) said, well, Gary knows about that. OK, I have studied both TM and Zen in my life. But Christian meditation owes only a little to those traditions. I imagine that the early practitioners were aware of Eastern meditation.

But, not to worry. Christian meditation centers on Christian things. The beginnings are the same everywhere. Stand, sit (preferably), lie, even walking, focus on your breathing. A good meditation is to simply say the Jesus Prayer softly or to yourself on the exhales–“Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.”

Another great meditation accompanies study. I love to meditate on the story where the resurrected Jesus appears to the men walking to Emmaus. What did he say? What did they ask? I put myself in the story as I slow my body down through regular breathing and gain new insights into the story.

Meditation isn’t exotic. It’s as old as Christianity within our tradition. It’s just another way to gain insight and let God talk. Oh, it also has great health and personality benefits. Regular practice for years will change your personality. It can help you go from Type A to Type B, become more mellow, and lower blood pressure.

And “Om”? It isn’t necessarily mystical in and of itself. It is a “primordial sound” that many believe helps focus your attention on God. Sounds are OK. Sometimes you can’t concentrate. Slow your mind with Om until you relax and can focus on God.

Don’t get uptight. Just slow down and let God in.

This entry was posted on February 16, 2012 at 6:49 am and is filed under Disciplines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.