Meditation vs. Mediocrity

Meditation. I was surprised to hear one of my Biblical Counseling professors say that meditation was one of the most important components of a believer's life. Honestly, I hadn't thought about meditation in conjunction with my life as a believer. Transcendental Meditation was a big deal in the 60s and 70s and for that reason I had always assumed that meditation and recreational drugs were companions. It had not occurred to me that meditation and faith in Christ should be partnered.

I certainly don't want to give you the impression that I don't think. I have always been an advocate of thinking and don't believe faith in Christ means checking your brain at the door. Meditation implies more than just thinking though. It is bigger than thinking through a problem or puzzling something through. Meditation means actually setting aside time to ponder a subject below the surface. It is extended contemplation and reflection rolled together and it is intentional.

My last post was about the value of the Word of God in the Woman of God. If my professor is correct, and I believe he is, meditation on the Word is a necessary element to living the Word. If we are going to be Titus 2 women, we must be living the Word. In some ways, this is as easy as shooting fish in a barrel. What's not to understand about don't do this, do this instead? Love God, don't lie, don't steal, love your neighbor... it's hard to do but easy to understand. Yet, if we are content to live a formulaic spiritual life, we are consigning ourselves at best to mediocrity. At worst we have built a dead faith upon works and are relying on our own ability to do what is right.

Meditating on God's Word helps us to connect the dots. It awakens the awe factor so that we are not living and acting in mechanical routine. It will render us speechless and cause us to fall hopeful before Him. Seeing His wisdom. Discovering His perfection. Savoring and exploring His manifold blessings and the magnitude of His love can only be accomplished by quiet contemplation. Drawing deeply and pensively from His Word sustains our souls. It lets us sink our roots down firmly where the water is, the Living Water.

Psalm 1
1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.
3 And he will be like a tree {firmly} planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
(NAS)

Spiritual Aphasia aka Senseless Theology

I was recently asked why I read theology and follow theological debates. "It's all just words and opinions." Words. Words on a paper, words on a blog. Words that travel invisibly through our airwaves and our minds. What would our inner monologue consist of without words? Harsh words, gentle words, untrue words, and solid you-can-die-behind them words. They have secret lives in the depths of our souls. They overflow in torrents of grief and joy. They seep out of our character flaws, wearing down the weak convictions that hold them back until they contaminate all those around us. All of us are stained within and without by the raw sewage of unkind words. Our souls are in jeopardy for want of The Word. Jesus Christ. The Gospel. The Good News. Words matter. Doctrine matters. Theology Matters. What you win them with is what you win them to. I study theology because I was lost too long in a world that scrambles truth with its own ideas and preferences. I was fed a diet of tosse

Super Church a song for the Emergent-sy

In the early 70s I was in a youth choir at my church. Our youth pastor was a musician and his way of connecting with us as a group was through the choir and music. Somehow there was an affiliation between him and The Continental Singers, New Hope and Jeremiah People. He was worked with Moishe Rosen of Jews for Jesus too, I think. Are any of these names familiar to you? Though I remember the church fondly I was a profoundly lost and troubled young woman during my years there. That and time have muddled the memories quite a bit. Today I was digging through some old paperwork and one of the books to the musical we did. It's Getting Late For the Great Planet Earth, a folk rock oratorio by Cam Floria. Yes, that's right. Cam Floria put Hal Lindsey to music. There's a lot to laugh about and some to groan about but as I was looking through the songs and remembering, I found this little ditty and I only wish I could sing it for you. Just remember that this is circa 1972 and even th

What if.....

...what if I just need a place to let some words spill out? What if they spill out in bouquets of bright colors and pleasing scents but their frames are made of snakes and lies? Will you the reader be able to tell? Will it matter? When words smell like lilacs and honeysuckle do you care what lies beneath them? Perfumed syllables cover the stench of hope's decay. A violet or two will fool most surface dwellers, allowing them to pass by quickly and unaware. Is that what words are supposed to do? What if my aesthetics with words are similar to Morticia Addams' with flowers? What happens when luscious blooms are discarded? When the ragged silhouette of thorns is all that remains will you still see the beauty? Perhaps we'll find out.

rambling rosemarie

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