This week we read Thomas Merton (Devotional Classics, pg. 65) alongside Psalm 8, on the topic of meditation. While this practice may not be familiar to many of us, followers of Christ have been using meditative practices for nearly 2,000 years, from the early desert fathers to Thomas Keating and Henri Nouwen.
Meditation or contemplative prayer is one of the deepest forms of prayer. Some view Christ's forty days in the wilderness as a time of meditation. In Matthew 6:5-6, Jesus instructs His followers not to make a show of praying openly, but to “go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret” (RSV). This shutting out of exterior influences to focus one’s attention fully on God is exactly what meditation offers.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was a Trappist monk and a great master of meditation. This text has much wisdom for us--from the riches of the vintage Christian tradition. I'd like to offer several questions for your comments, but as always, you are welcome to respond to the reading in any way you like.
- Describe any experiences you've had with meditation. How would one begin to explore this practice?
- Merton believes we need to cultivate an "attitude" in our life before God. From his point of view, why is attitude more important than method?
- Merton says that, "Meditation is sometimes quite difficult." Why is that? How can we respond to these difficulties?
- In sections 6 & 7, Merton says that, "We will never be anything else but beginners." What is the importance of this insight for you?
How to Meditate
Contemplative Outreach
More from Merton:
"A life is either all spiritual or not spiritual at all. No one can serve two masters. Your life is shaped by the end you live for. You are made in the image of what you desire."
"It is in the ordinary duties and labors of life that the Christian can and should develop his spiritual union with God."
"The very contradictions in my life are in some ways signs of God's mercy to me."
"We must make the choices that enable us to fulfill the deepest capacities of our real selves."
next week: Martin Luther, Devotional Classics, p. 115 "A life is either all spiritual or not spiritual at all. No one can serve two masters. Your life is shaped by the end you live for. You are made in the image of what you desire."
"It is in the ordinary duties and labors of life that the Christian can and should develop his spiritual union with God."
"The very contradictions in my life are in some ways signs of God's mercy to me."
"We must make the choices that enable us to fulfill the deepest capacities of our real selves."
1 comment:
Hi Karen,
Thomas Merton is responsible for the resurgence of contemplative prayer these past 30 years. He says “At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God, which is never at our disposal, from which God disposes of our lives, which is inaccessible to the fantasies of our own mind or the brutalities of our own will.” The Contemplative Outreach movement with Fr. Thomas Keating even named Centering Prayer after that place where God dwells within all of us. John Main, a Benedictine monk, was also experimenting with a prayer type called "Christian Meditation" that is similar to Centering Prayer. Both prayers are allow one to be in sacred silence and consent to God's action and presence within you. They are truly transforming prayers. Visit this site for more about Christian Meditation -- The World Community for Christian Meditation (http://www.wccm.org).
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