Practicing meditation emphasizes emptying. Empty the mind of useless or evil thoughts.
Jesus told a story of what happens next. When Satan returns to find an empty house swept clean and empty, he musters seven other spirits and lurks there making it worse than before. (Matthew 12:44-45)
Emptying the mind is the essential first step. Filling it with the right spirit comes next.
I once led a Yoga practice as part of the summer youth program at a downtown community center. The kids ranged in age from about 8 to about 15. Maybe 20 of them. At the end of every Yoga practice is a practice often called “final relaxation.” It is a form of meditation, maybe even mindfulness.
For the length of the practice we did with these youth, final relaxation would be maybe 5-6 minutes. Figuring we could keep 20 kids still for 5 minutes seemed the Impossible Dream. We went sometimes as long as 15 minutes.
You all can do that, too. If an 8-year-old can lie still and breathe for 15 minutes, what is stopping you. A pause for even 10 minutes in a busy day where we breathe and perhaps focus on a scene can change your outlook on life, and indeed, your life itself.
I would often set a scene as we began relaxing. Imagine yourself in a sunny meadow filled with beautiful wildflowers. The grass is soft as we sink into it. We can smell the flowers. Our breathing slows. We are just here.
When I teach Romans, I lead people through the spiritual formation path that Paul lays out. It sort of follows the logic chain: self-awareness of our sins, different approaches of Jews and Greeks (very important in 50 AD), Jesus and Grace, now what (once we’ve accepted grace how do we live), and then finally friends, partners, and the team. Chapter 16 describes the latter.
Despite the sentence that Paul wrote to Timothy where he says “I” (not God) do not permit women to teach (addressing a specific problem in Ephesus), looking at the team listed at the end of the letter to the Romans, we get an entirely different portrait of first century Christian leadership. There are women—and men. Couples and singles. I’d imagine many were wealthy and many not so much.
What sort of team and selection of partners have you assembled or are participating?
I never quote this much, but I think the topic needs it. This is from the NIV translation.
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. 2 I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.
3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. 4 They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.
5 Greet also the church that meets at their house.
Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia.
6 Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you.
7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
8 Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord.
9 Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys.
10 Greet Apelles, whose fidelity to Christ has stood the test.
Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus.
11 Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew.
Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.
12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord.
Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.
13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.
14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the other brothers and sisters with them.
15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the Lord’s people who are with them.
Jesus taught us about how to love one another, how to be kind.
Was this just idle theory that we can ignore (as many people including Christians seem to do)?
Enter research with actual humans.
Research suggests that acts of kindness can help reduce stress and anxiety. Before you write this off as too good to be true, the scientists reviewed more than 200 studies on nearly 200,000 people. They found that kindness works directly on your brain to help boost well-being, improve connection, and create psychological and physiological changes that can help you overcome and outsmart stress.
Who knew what Jesus was actually up to? Behaving with kindness toward others leads to a healthier life for the giver.
Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me.
This simple prayer formed the bedrock of meditation for Christians ever since the first century. I have found that it can be said silently (or aloud) with the rhythm of breath. It serves to regulate breathing into a slow, steady pattern.
The Apostle Paul once advised followers of Jesus to pray without ceasing. Many have used this prayer as a tool to assist in that discipline. Pause often during the day to simply remember this prayer. It helps.
Ask not what your country can do for you, rather ask what you can do for your country. — John F. Kennedy
I was perhaps 14 when the new president included this phrase in his speech.
I don’t scroll Facebook much any longer (not that I ever did a lot). When I read the posts in my community in a effort to get some local news, it seems like for every one person following Kennedy’s precept there are five whining that others are not doing enough for them.
Christian churches attract many servants fulfilling in whatever way they can Jesus’ teachings about serving others.
But they also attract many more who whine that the speakers are too loud, the speakers are too muddled, the pastor doesn’t “feed” them, the coffee is bland, there aren’t enough parking spots close to the building, they always want money, and so on ad infinitum.
Yes, I’m glad I never became a pastor.
But seriously, isn’t it time we all listened to at least Kennedy if we aren’t going to listen to Jesus?
Or maybe Benjamin Franklin who asked of himself every morning “What good will I do today” and every evening “What good did I do today?”
Reading from a philosopher today—it seems there are two kinds of people.
One type needs to be told things. They crave authority. “Tell me what to believe,” they clamor. “Tell me how to act.” In other words, tell me how to be in the cool kids group. Tell me how much I am better than “them.”
The second type goes their own way. They believe they think for themselves. “Don’t tell me what to do or how to think,” said I in my late adolescent years. Therein lies the Baby Boomer predicament. Many just either want to be contrarian or at least different.
But there is a third. My favorite pastime is finding alternatives from dichotomies. This person houses an infinitely curious intelligence. Maybe if I read enough, or listen to a wide variety of people, or think deeply on other issues, then I might find a better path. This person believes that no one knows everything, not even themselves.
I was trained long ago to speak and write as if I knew what I was talking about. They told me to sound confident, forceful, knowledgeable—even though I might just be putting forth a proposition expecting pushback and discussion.
This thought from Seth Godin recently came my way.
One of the valid complaints about some AI systems is that they make stuff up, with confidence, and without sourcing, and then argue when challenged.
Unsurprisingly, this sounds a lot like people. We often end up with what we are willing to tolerate. Show your work and ask for receipts.
Then I thought of the many people I’ve known who are so convinced of their opinion as the only way. They speak with complete confidence in their being correct.
Maybe I need to find a way to be more humble and invite discussion. Maybe we all need to achieve the self-awareness that reflects back to us that we don’t know it all. Sorry if you think you do—you don’t.
“Leave your front door and your back door open. Let thoughts come and go. Just don’t serve them tea.” — Shunryu Suzuki
Focused thinking is good. But sometimes in a quiet moment, when meditating, or while half-awake at night thoughts ceaselessly flit. Don’t be hospitable.
Cal Newport, computer science professor and author (Slow Productivity), noticed a sign while on book promotion tour in England regarding the noxious effects of overly processed food, aka junk food.
The message caused a companion thought—junk food for the mind. He had been thinking about how social media, over reliance on smart phones, and the like have corrupted the minds of many throughout the world.
What foods do you allow to fill your appetite? (In my case despite watching what I eat, I just drank 16 oz. of sugar—fruit juice plus ginger ale—just before a blood test. Really stupid.) Normally, I am careful about what goes in.
Likewise, what do you allow to fill your mind? Social media or quality fiction and poetry? TV or walking in nature?
Let us maintain a healthy body and mind.
Faith Venture 