Meditation 1

Posted on May 18, 2018 by Don Merritt

Introduction

It will come as a surprise to many today to know that meditation is a Christian spiritual practice, for most of us associate meditation with Eastern metaphysics or New Ade practice.  In truth, meditation in various forms is practiced almost everywhere, including in Christianity from the very early days of the faith. The key words I would call your attention to are “in various forms”, for not all meditation is Christian; not by a long shot.

Meditation in one form or another can be found in most religious traditions and obviously, most religious traditions are not Christian. Consequently, I would suggest that meditation is a spiritual practice that should be reserved for mature believers only. Of course, that is just my personal opinion, and you are certainly free to your own opinions. I also realize that many Christian groups forbid anything even approaching meditation, and that is their prerogative; I won’t get into a fight over it, but sadly, this position is usually based upon a series of misconceptions about the entire subject.

What exactly does it mean to meditate?

Merriam-Webster defines it this way:

intransitive verb

1: to engage in contemplation or reflection 

  • He meditatedlong and hard before announcing his decision.

2: to engage in mental exercise (such as concentration on one’s breathing or repetition of a mantra) for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness

transitive verb

1: to focus one’s thoughts on : reflect on or ponder over 

  • He was meditatinghis past achievements.

2: to plan or project in the mind : intend, purpose 

  • He was meditating

Merriam-Webster isn’t defining “Christian” meditation, just what the word itself means, and you can see that the word can mean slightly different things. Christian meditation is not the intransitive definition 2. Christian meditation directs the mind to Scripture:

Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (Joshua 1:8)

but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. (Psalm 1:2)

I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. (Psalm 119:15)

We might meditate on one of the attributed of God:

I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. (Psalm 48:9)

Or on the works and creation of God:

I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds. (Psalm 77:12)

(Emphases added)

Christian meditation is not the opening up of one’s self to any old spirit that comes along but should be at the direction of the Holy Spirit as revealed in His Word, and thus is something quite different than one might expect. In fact, I would suggest that many of those who would seek to forbid Christians from meditating, probably practice these things and don’t realize they are “meditations”.

We have an introduction to the subject now, next time let’s get into what meditation looks like for a Christian in more detail…

Posted in Christian Life | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Opening Salvo

Posted on May 18, 2018 by Don Merritt

2 Corinthians 10

The first thing we are likely to notice when we turn the page from chapter 9 and start reading chapter 10 is that Paul is no longer talking about giving glory to God by experiencing the blessings of giving. It would be an understatement to say that the switch was abrupt; there is no transition whatsoever.

One thing is clear enough in the first six verses: Somebody has been saying that Paul is much bolder when he writes a letter than he is in person, which could be a serious charge if it is coupled with the accusation that he can’t back up what he writes about when he is challenged. There is an alternative possibility as well; he might not be a natural public speaker, a little shy perhaps.

You are judging by appearances. If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ, they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do. So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it. I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.” Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present. (10:7-11)

These verses give us a bit more insight into the charges levelled against Paul; his writings are forceful, weighty and seem to contain a little boasting about his authority as an apostle. Come to think of it, he pulled rank a few times in both 1 Corinthians, and earlier is 2 Corinthians, and of course there are at least 2 letters we haven’t seen… Yet in person, he’s “unimpressive”. We have no real way to judge whether or not these apparent allegations are true, but we should be able to see how they might be true. In our time we have social media. Anyone who has had any experience with social media is aware of the fact that people tend to be much more abrasive when typing on a computer at home than they are face-to-face, which is why there are so many more fights on social media than in person.

Back in the days when people wrote letters, the same was true. In fact, don’t some people write a letter or a note, or send a text or email to express something that they would be too uncomfortable saying in person, even an expression of love? Why yes, they do. So, we can see how this charge might have been true, even though we cannot be certain of it.

Having pointed this out, we also know that it is a lot easier to make accusations behind someone’s back than it is to their face.

In 10:12-18, Paul has a charge of his own: His boasting falls within the limits of what he has accomplished in the Lord in his ministry to and for the Corinthians. His boasting speaks to God’s being glorified in their midst, but those who oppose him seem to have the audacity to commend themselves purely by their own standards, not by God’s. They congratulate themselves, they approve of their own actions, while Paul is commended by the Lord and his actions are the Lord’s actions.

For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. (10:18)

As we read through these verses trying to figure out what happened, I’m struck so far with one thing in particular: Over the past two thousand years of human development, nothing much has changed. Humans seem to have a need to criticize others who actually try to do something positive, we want to tear down, to belittle. What’s the point of that?

Maybe Paul will reveal more in chapter 11.

Posted in Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Fasting

Posted on May 17, 2018 by Don Merritt

The spiritual practice of fasting is well-known, but not always well understood. It can be practiced corporately as when a group or a congregation might set aside a day of fasting and prayer for something such as healing for instance. Since this is a study on individual spiritual practices, we’ll not concentrate on the corporate side of things.

As an individual practice, fasting is the abstinence from food, drink, entertainments (which would probably include electronics) or anything else that would occupy one’s time and take them away from God. As such, it is a private matter and would not normally be announced to others.

Of course, even in Bible times, people were known to forget that last part, preferring instead to announce their fasting to the community to impress others with the person’s superior righteousness and piety. If you recall, Jesus took a rather dim view of that.

It might surprise some that I added “drink, entertainments (which would probably include electronics) or anything else that would occupy one’s time and take them away from God” to abstaining from food.  We are talking about Classical Spiritual Disciplines here and so we have the other additions. To be clear, fasting is about considerably more than not eating for a while.

Like several of the other spiritual practices, fasting is all about the denial of sensory stimulation so that a person can focus on prayer and/or their closeness (relationship) to God.

As such, I have never actually seen anyone who was fasting as a spiritual practice, but I have seen and heard about quite a few people who were fasting because they wanted something from God. Often, they wanted God to forgive them for something, a few times, they wanted something specific like a job or a new car. I must tell you that if you approach fasting in this way, you’ve probably missed the point entirely. First off, if you are looking for forgiveness and you are a follower of Jesus, you already have it; maybe giving thanks would be more appropriate. However, if you observed a time of fasting and prayer as an act of repentance from sin, you would probably be on the right track.

Do you see the difference?

Second, you might pray for a job or a new car that you need or whatever the case may be but adding fasting to the mix is a bit too much like you’re trying to coax God into something He doesn’t want to do. As the Scriptures teach us, put your requests to God and let His will be done.  Remember, Jesus didn’t fast to get out of the cross, He asked, and then prayed for His Father’s will to be done.

I mentioned that I have never seen or heard of anyone fasting for the “classical” reasons, and that shouldn’t be any great shock. I do know people who use this practice from time-to-time, but it is entirely private; between the person and God. They don’t tell anyone about it, other than in the abstract, which is the classical approach to the matter. In fact, it brings up another of the Classical Disciplines, which is called the Discipline of Secrecy.

“Secrecy” is the practice of keeping the things a person does for God entirely private. They may provide acts of kindness, generosity or mercy for others, but they do so in secret, anonymously and they never reveal it to anyone save God, so that in all that they do, God gets all glory and credit. Very frequently, such people do not reveal their other practices, other than in a context of private discipleship.

 

Posted in Christian Life | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

A surprising Turn

Posted on May 17, 2018 by Don Merritt

As chapter 10 begins, Paul has started the last section of the letter; it runs through chapter 13. For centuries, scholars have been puzzled by this section, for it really doesn’t seem to fit; this is another section in defense of Paul’s apostolic ministry, but unlike the first section of defense that was based around Paul’s love for the Corinthians, this one adopts a harsh tone, and is laced with sarcasm− why would Paul do that now?

In the past, a great many scholars believed that chapters 10-13 were the contents of Paul’s harsh letter that was referred to back in the beginning of the letter. Yet in more recent times, scholars have mostly moved away from that view in favor of a view that after Paul had sent Titus and the others to Corinth with his letter (chapters 1-9) he received more bad news from Corinth about the same issues as before, became very angry, and then wrote chapters 10-13 as an additional letter.

More recently another view has come into vogue, this one originates with experts of Greek literature of the period. In this view, Paul’s earlier defense of his ministry was directed at the majority of the church who were inclined to be most receptive to Paul, as opposed to the outside agitators and the minority of hardline members who were less likely to be receptive. Paul would, in essence, make his peace with the receptive majority, explain himself and set the table to renew his appeal for the offering. With that accomplished, he would then single out the agitators and hard liners and blast them with all guns in a furious broadside to completely discredit them in the eyes of the majority.

So, which of these views is correct?

I can’t say for sure for the simple reason that we don’t have any clear evidence to support any of these views, other than the fact that right when we come to what should be the end of the letter, the part where we would expect to find Paul’s final greetings, he went off on his opponents. Objectively then, that’s all we can say for certain.

Since I am not an expert on first century Greek literary technique, I really am not in a position to confirm or deny the claims of the most recent theory, but I can tell you that being trained in rhetoric myself, that’s how I would go about it today if I were in Paul’s situation. I would reconcile with the majority who are likely to side with me, and then discredit the opposition; yes, it would be persuasive if done right. The tricky part is to make fools of the opponents without going so far that my allies would be put off.

Did they use the same rhetorical tactics then that we use now?

Sadly, the answer is… sort of.

Since we really can’t be sure, I’ll just leave the “why” open to your interpretation, and deal with the “what” as we go through this rather raucous section.

We’ll dive into it next time; see you then!

Posted in Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Photo of the Week: May 16, 2018

Posted on May 16, 2018 by Don Merritt

Spring on the Mississippi

Posted in Photo of the Week | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Solitude

Posted on May 16, 2018 by Don Merritt

The spiritual practice of silence is primarily about being silent; the spiritual practice of solitude is primarily about being alone. For many of us, we need solitude to find silence, both within and without. Yet solitude does not necessarily require silence. Here’s what I mean…

Many people report that they are closest to God when alone in nature. They may hear the gentle rustle of the breeze in the leaves, the singing of the birds in the branches above, the chattering of the squirrels, the chirping of the crickets and maybe the babbling of a brook. In this setting, a person might meditate, or pray, or both. Or, perhaps they might just remain silent…

It isn’t easy to pray as an individual spiritual practice surrounded by other people, for there are so many distractions. I know people do it, but I have a tough time meditating in a crowd. How about individual study? Is that enhanced on a city bus− or in solitude?

Classically speaking, solitude was practiced in a very quiet room all alone. It might have been divided with prayer and meditation, followed by silence. Yet whereas so many of the classical teachers of spiritual disciplines insisted on certain routines or manners of practice, my approach, as you no doubt noticed, is to experiment to find the right practices or combination of practices that enhance your relationships with God, and not to worry about a list of rules created by well meaning men.

I’ve written about this in the past, but my most amazing time alone with God thus far in my life, was sort of in nature. Actually, I was at a resort full of people early in the morning. There had been a very big storm; thunder, lightning and torrents of rain. During a break in the storm I headed out to the deserted beach and found a very remote spot on the rocks at a point that jutted out into the surf, about 15 or 20 feet above where the very rough surf was crashing into the rocks below. The wind was blowing, and in the sky were very large puffy clouds, maybe 200 feet above the sea, that were racing across the sky.  From this vantage point, I could see only the sea, the sky and the clouds; nothing man-made as if I were all alone in the world, and out of the wind, the surf and the spray blowing over me, I heard (figuratively) the voice of God speaking to me: It was glorious. A rain squall passed through and I was drenched with warm tropical rain as He spoke, and then it passed and the sun once again broke through the clouds.

This was not at all a quiet scene; solitude can be like that, but throughout, I was silent. See how that can work?

For me, solitude is very important as a spiritual discipline, and I make time for it every day, combining solitude with prayer and study… and silence from me: For you, it may be different. I hope that you will feel free to share other possibilities with us to help those who are new at this sort of thing.

Posted in Christian Life | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Excel in the Grace of Giving

Posted on May 16, 2018 by Don Merritt

2 Corinthians 9

In the first 5 verses, Paul wraps up his discussion from chapter 8 about the collection for the church in Jerusalem. In this conclusion, he tells the Corinthians that he has told the people in Macedonia all about their willingness to give, how the Corinthians have assured him that they will be all in when the time comes to produce their contribution to the fund. He gives them a heads up that the men are coming to collect their gift, so they won’t be surprised; so they can be prepared, in other words.

Of course, he did manage to mention how embarrassing it would be if they didn’t come through with their pledge… no pressure or anything.

After this, there is a subtle shift from this specific collection, to a more general theme on giving, one we can all benefit from.

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (9:6-8)

Who can argue with any of this?

In my experience, quite a lot of people argue with this. Oh, of course they agree with every word when they’re talking about someone else, but if there is the slightest implication that it might apply to them, they become indignant: “They just want my money”, they say. If you ask me, I’d say that if this is how you feel about it, then you should keep your money; every penny of it.

This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (9:12-15)

With these verses, Paul makes the whole point of the exercise clear: We are asked to give because we need to give, not because God cannot provide in other ways. As people who have so fully received God’s blessings, doesn’t it follow that we would want to be a blessing to others, particularly to our brothers and sisters in Christ whom we love? Wouldn’t we want to be a blessing to that neighbor of ours whom we love as ourselves?

Wouldn’t we want to bring glory and praise to God through our giving to fill the legitimate needs of others?

Well, if the answer is no, then by all means, keep your money; we’ll pray for you that God will open your eyes to see the blessing you are missing out on.

Yes, I think that about sums up what Paul is saying here, don’t you?

Posted in Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Silence

Posted on May 15, 2018 by Don Merritt

The spiritual practice of silence is easy enough to define: You find a place where there is no noise, no talking, no sound at all; just you and God. The idea is that all of your thoughts and concentration are upon His glorious presence. What do you do next?

Nothing, nothing at all.

At this point, the research indicates more than one approach: some say that you pray, others say that you meditate, still others say that you try to see God in your mind… and still others say that you clear your mind entirely and just sit in silence thinking nothing at all. If I’m honest with you, I’d have to say that this doesn’t work too well for me because when I try to clear my mind like that, then my mind is full of clearing itself, which isn’t really all that clear. What I find useful sometimes is to pray first, and then to remain in silence while I await an answer, which often comes.

Strictly speaking, is that the real method of the Classical Spiritual Discipline of Silence?

That answer depends entirely upon who you ask.

Now, if you are a regular reader of this blog, then you surely know that I’m no stickler for tradition, and I’m not all that “classical” in my approach to things. In my view, and please feel free to disagree, I think that a number of spiritual practices are best when combined together, as I did with my example of prayer followed by silence.  Come to think of it, prayer, solitude and meditation all require silence… as does study as we’ve described it. And doesn’t silence also require solitude?

OK, now you can see why I’m not such a stickler for details of this sort.

I think silence is a wonderful thing, if for no other reason that the 21st century is so loud. We are always surrounded by noise from traffic, from other people, from televisions, radios, stereos, headphones, telephones, notification sounds from electronics… We know that God is still there in all of our noise, but He is so much easier to discern in silence.

Then of course, there is the noise of our own thoughts; I have things to do, where are my keys, bills are almost due, the car is making a funny noise, I think I forgot something at the store… next time I see so and so I’m giving him a piece of my mind, I’m going to tell him…

Oh yes, silence is a wonderful thing, you see silence is very much about being silent, for how else can we hear God?

I’d really be curious to hear what you think about this one…

Posted in Christian Life | Tagged , , , , , , , | 33 Comments

Show us your love

Posted on May 15, 2018 by Don Merritt

2 Corinthians 8

In this chapter, Paul returns to one of the main issues that caused the recent controversies in Corinth; the gift of financial aid to the church in Jerusalem. As we have already seen, his accusers in Corinth made a lot of this action, apparently claiming that Paul was involved in something less than honest, yet Paul and the Corinthians had now moved beyond these attacks, had dealt with the accusers, and reconciled.

Haven’t they?

What is really interesting here, is that Paul, full of optimism and joy, is giving the Corinthians an opportunity to demonstrate their rejection of those accusers, and their commitment to Christ and His people by giving their money for the relief of the Jerusalem church.

Was Paul pushing his luck when he wrote this? Remember, he didn’t know what the response would be…

Over the years, I’ve listened to many an annual sermon about tithing come from these verses, and I’ve often wondered if that was the best application of the text.  If I’m honest, I have to say that I still wonder about that.

Yet putting our love into action might well mean that from time-to-time we must part with our cash. No, I don’t mean “tithing”. After all, tithing is part of the Old Testament Law that is “obsolete and useless” according to the author of Hebrews. What I mean is that so many of us say that Christ is first in our lives, that He is our center and our rock, and then refuse to give our earthly treasure to His cause. Is it just me, or is there perhaps the slightest bit of hypocrisy at work there…?

I’ll let you be the judge of that, and I’ll just say that Paul is clearly challenging the Corinthians to put their money where their mouths are.

As for us, I think it is safe to say that we should be good stewards of or material resources, wasting not. I think it is important for us to avoid being a burden upon others if it is at all possible. At the same time, it is also important that we be quick to give to those who have a real need, for how can we say that we love our brother and sister, all the while refusing a legitimate need? No, we shouldn’t become enablers to enable people to waste their resources and very often it is hard to be sure where the need actually comes from.

Yet as the rich man said, “I may have lost millions in business, but I never lost a cent that I gave away.”

Posted in Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

TLP Living: 5/14/18

Posted on May 14, 2018 by Don Merritt

This morning, as I was sitting quietly listening to the thunder outside, amidst the flashes of pre-dawn lightning and just chilling with a cup of coffee, I asked Alexa what happened on this day in history, and she told me that Frank Sinatra died on May 14, 1998.

While that was a sad day for the Sinatra family, and a pretty big deal for Old Blue Eyes, it wasn’t really what I had in mind.

Have you ever heard sports commentators talking about who was the best player (in whatever sport) of all time? Most of the time, they mention players who are playing now, or who have retired in the last few years. I suspect that they do this because their programs are geared to a younger audience, but then sometimes I wonder if they even know that major sports have been around for more that 15 or 20 years.

Most of us haven’t really bothered to know much about history, and that makes understanding the present next to impossible, for understanding the world we live in, like understanding Scripture, requires that we keep things in context, and history is context. Granted, I am a history nerd, so maybe I take it too far, but even so, Harry Truman was entirely correct when he said: “The only thing new in the world is history you don’t know.”

Who was Harry Truman again?

Yeah, that’s the problem…

In case anyone cares, here are few minor little things that happened on May 14…

On May 14, 1787 delegates began arriving in Philadelphia for the Constitutional Convention: For Americans, it really doesn’t get much bigger than that.

In 1796, English medical student Edward Jenner administered the first vaccination for smallpox; I’m glad he did!

In 1804 the Lewis and Clark Expedition began, another really big deal.

In 1864 the Battle of Resaca began in Georgia. This isn’t one of the great famous battles of the American Civil War, but it did mark the beginning of General Sherman’s campaign to capture the critical rail center of Atlanta, Georgia. As it happened, when Atlanta finally fell on August 31 after a two-month siege, not only was it a major strategic victory from a military point of view, it turned the political tide in the North. Democrat George McClellan, running on a peace at any price platform was sure to beat incumbent Abraham Lincoln in the November election which would have resulted in the South winning the War. Yet after the fall of Atlanta, the tide changed and Lincoln won going away. This enabled the passage of the 13th Amendment prohibiting slavery and the capitulation of the Southern forces early the next year.

In 1948, the State of Israel was proclaimed.

In 1955, the Warsaw Pact was formed.

There’s a great deal more…

As we go through our day today in 2018, most of us won’t do anything that will be remembered for very long, probably none of us will make history. Yet we can touch another with the love of Christ in us, and for that person, it will be as big as anything that has gone on any time before.

Perhaps today can be a day of Salvation for someone you know− time will tell.

Posted in Christian Life | Tagged , , , , , , , | 11 Comments