Chapter 2 - Meditation

Meditation. An intimidating word for me, and one that brings up difficult memories from the past. I think just sitting still is part of the problem. "In our contemporary society our Adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry, and crowds" (p. 15) My mind races. I sit with a notebook nearby, so I can jot down the dozen thoughts and "to dos" that come to my mind. Luther said, "I have so much to do (today) that I should spend the first three hours in prayer"(Martin Luther).

I know that I need to follow Christ's example (Luke 6:12; Matthew 14:23; Mark 1:35; Mark 6:31; Luke 5:16), and practice getting away to meditate and pray. Foster recognizes that our culture and the church in general does not instruct it's members in this discipline, "You are learning a discipline for which you have received no training" (p. 32). The church I grew up in actually had a practice called "waiting on God." For a variety of reasons, including, no doubt, my youth, I did not benefit from this exercise. Ironically, I may be more sympathetic to that practice now, than I was in my twenties. Nevertheless, here I am, a middle aged man, with bad memories of sitting for hours in my pre-teen and teen years, "waiting for the Spirit to fall." Admittedly, the purpose of that exercise in that church (and the theology upon which it was based) was different than what Foster is advocating. I'll say no more of that now. Needless to say, I still need to learn to meditate.

I appreciate Foster's practical advice and his survey of the forms of mediation. The distinction between the meditation upon scripture (meditatio Scripturarum) and the study of scripture is important. They serve different, though essential, purposes. The intellectual exercise of study and preparation for teaching is important to me, and I believe God-honoring, but it is not meditation. I also enjoy a straight reading through the bible. It gives me the context and narrative of the story of redemption, but this too, is not meditation as Foster describes.

So, I will do as Foster says, "We learn to meditate by meditating." I know this will be a challenge, but I will trust my God who desires my company.