Week 15 – The Forms of Meditation – Meditation upon Events

Celebration of Discipline Bible Study

Prepared by: Rev. Willetta Ar-Rahmaan

Week 15 – The Forms of Meditation – Meditation upon Events

            The last form of meditation Foster defined is “meditation upon events of our time and to seek to perceive their significance”.   In the previous lesson we talked about meditation upon creation, the beauty of what God created and now Foster wants us to focus on the events of our time as meditation.  When I read this particular portion of the book, God recalled to my memory my sermon preparation class.  My professor, the Late Rev. Dr. Miles Jones, said we need to read the newspaper and the Bible together.  As we meditate on the events we are asking God to reveal to us the deeper meaning of what was written in the paper or heard on the news.  This type of meditation is seeking God’s insight of today so we can see if the underlying issues were those that impacted the early church.  Foster also believe “we should ask for guidance for anything we personally should be doing to be salt and light in tour decaying and dark world” (pg. 32).

            When most of meditation upon current events and we are able to discern what God is revealing to us, we may not share it with others because we are not comfortable being the messenger of unpopular news.  God didn’t call us to be popular but to be like the prophets of old, speak to the people so they can turn from the path of destruction.  Have you noticed the events of today seem to be the same events going on in the Bible?  The same message the prophets spoke is still being reiterated today.  This is why it is necessary for us to seek that deeper meaning and relationship with God.

            Meditation on this level is not easy because we are seeking quick answers but we must sit a while with God for the revelation needed.  When we start meditation it may feel like a waste of time but actually it’s time in God’s presence.  Meditation is like everything else we start at first.  It’s hard and we may not feel we are making progress but the key is to keep doing it.  Don’t allow you feelings to discourage you because your feelings have good and bad days.

            As I searched for resources for Christian Meditation, I realized there was a lack of available resources.  A good rule of thumb is to look at the Notes section in the back of any book.  Foster used several books that can be found online.  If you are not sure about meditation, take small steps like prayer.  A little at a time and next you will be meditating and focusing on all things in life.

            This is our last lesson for meditation.  We will start looking at Prayer.  Remember, we are working on the inward disciplines.  These disciplines develop our personal time with God.

Assignment:

Research an event you remember from growing up (i.e. war, crime, peace, unity). 

Pray and ask God to show you why did this happen? 

Write down where Bible a similar event took place in the Bible

What was the outcome?

'Twas the Cross before Christmas

The Christmas season is in full swing.  The retailers had Christmas decorations out before Halloween and they were slashing prices before Thanksgiving to compete for our dollars on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  It seems every year the commercialization of Christmas comes earlier and earlier. 

This is the one time of year people will be extra friendly, extremely kind and compassionate.  This is the time of year when we hear people say it's better to give than to receive.  Some people are expecting to receive a gift or card because they believe it is required because of the season. Each year we are trying to buy the latest toy, game or tech gadget.  As we struggle financially many of us are returning to the basics of gift giving handmade gifts of things needed or giving of our time to help those in need. So many of us have forgotten the real reason for Christmas.  We have not taught our children and their expectation is receiving a gift, decorating a tree and a big meal.  It's time for us to remember why we celebrate Christmas.

Christmas is the celebration of the "Son" of God.  Since no one really knows the actual birthday of Jesus Christ, therefore the 25th of December was chosen by the early church.  Why was the 25th of December was chosen?  The early church wanted to celebrate the birth of Christ since the only celebration was the Cross (Life, Death and Resurrection).

However, there were many pagan celebration but the one the early church attached itself to was the celebration of the "Sun", the winter solstice.  What a way to honor the Son of God while others were honoring the return of the Sun.  So Christmas is a celebration for Christians and non-Christians.  As Christians we need to remember that the Cross was before Christmas.  The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the focus of the Church, without the Cross we would not be able to celebrate Christmas.

May your Christmas continue with kindness, compliments and giving all year along.  God gave us a gift and it is up to each of us to accept the gift given.  Share the story of Jesus Christ beyond the baby in the manger and point to the Cross where reconciliation and redemption is available.

Enjoy this poem written by my Homiletics professor the Late Rev. Dr. Miles J. Jones, 'Twas the Cross before Christmas. 

Week 14 – The Forms of Meditation – Meditation upon Creation

Celebration of Discipline Bible Study

Prepared by: Rev. Willetta Ar-Rahmaan

Week 14 – The Forms of Meditation – Meditation upon Creation

            The third form of meditation Foster defined is “meditation upon creation”.  We give attention to the “created order” (ie trees, moon, stars, mountains, ocean, and etc).  As we travel across the world, in our city and state we marvel at the wonderful, majestic creation of God.  The handiwork of God causes us to sit for hours and praise God for the beauty of creation. 

            Every time I fly to the west coast, I’m always amazed at the formation of the clouds at 34,000 feet or when we fly over the Grand Canyon the view is breath taking.  While sitting on the plane looking out the window one can’t help but to reflect and meditate on what God created out of emptiness. Maybe some of us don’t fly, but we find ourselves sitting outside or inside during the summer watching the movement of a butterfly or hummingbird going from flower to flower.  We may become intrigued and want to get closer but instead we sit there smiling knowing that God created them for a different purpose.  We have found ourselves as “Evelyn Underhill recommends, “…begin with that first form of contemplation which the old mystics sometimes called, ‘the discovery of God in his creatures.’ “ (p. 31).  We are truly discovering God when we are meditating upon creation.

            As we watch the created order of God we learn lessons and God reveals things to us we never saw or heard before.  When we meditate upon creation we can relate to Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”  Then when we read the beginning of Genesis Chapter 1, “On the first day God created light and darkness, night and day; on the second, the firmament separating earthly and heavenly waters; on the third, dry land and vegetation; on the fourth, the heavenly luminaries of the sun (‘greater luminary’) for ruling the day and the moon (chief ‘lesser luminary’) for ruling the night; on the fifth, sea creatures and birds; and on the sixth, land creatures and humans.”^[1]

            As we keep reading we start to notice Psalm 150, Daniel 12:3, James 1:18 and Revelation 5:13.  These are just some scriptures to read and others may come to mind while meditating upon creation.  Since we are apart of God’s creation, we may find ourselves meditating on the gifts and vision God gave human beings.  Imagine the creation of the internet, airplane, cars, trains and building. When we truly meditate on creation we are taking an in-depth look, we want to be able to smell the salty ocean waters, listen intently to the songs the birds sing, watch how the snowflakes fall to the ground and feel a warm summer breeze.  We want our senses to be engaged and allow our mind to see beyond the surface but focus on the source of all these beautiful and marvelous creation of God.

Fun assignment:

Identify a creation of God and meditate on it deeply and engage your senses. 

Describe how this creation makes you feel

Write the simple message God revealed to you about that creation

Post the simple message to the blog.

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^[1]Achtemeier, Paul J. ; Harper & Row, Publishers ; Society of Biblical Literature: Harper's Bible Dictionary. 1st ed. San Francisco : Harper & Row, 1985, S. 192

Week 13 – The Forms of Meditation – Re-Collection and Centering Down

Celebration of Discipline Bible Study

Prepared by: Rev. Willetta Ar-Rahmaan

Week 13 – The Forms of Meditation – Re-Collection and Centering Down

            The second form of meditation Foster defined is “re-collection” which comes from the Middle Ages, and the Quakers called it “centering down”.  Both terms means the same thing according to Foster, “It is a time to become still, to enter into the recreating silence, to allow the fragmentation of our minds to become centered” (p. 30).  Basically we are eliminating all distractions so we can focus being in the presence of God. 

            As we focus being in the presence of God we are turning over all burdens to God as we seek internal silence.  While researching this topic the following website: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12676b.htm talked about two types of recollection, active and passive.  “Active recollection may be acquired by our own efforts aided by the ordinary grace of God. Thus any devout soul can acquire the habit of thinking of God's presence and of fixing attention upon Him and his Divine perfections.”  This seems more like an exercise in yoga where we are asked to focus on a certain thing.  The key word is active we must do something to be a participant in this recollection.  We are recollection our thoughts and recalling to our memory what it means to recreate an internal silence while in the presence of God.  Internal silence is peace we are releasing our fear, frustration and anxiety that is going on externally.  We start to feel a burden lifted when we release our external issue.

The second type is “passive recollection does not depend upon our own efforts, but is an extraordinary grace infused by God, by which He summons together the faculties of the soul and manifests His presence and His perfections; this kind of recollection is classed by mystical writers as the first degree of infused contemplation.”  As we all know being passive is sitting by doing nothing in the process.  We are not thinking about God, but God shows up without us being active.  When God manifest God’s self we are allowing God to commune with and in us.  Just remember, we can not always be passive in our meditation with God. 

The centering down is apart of the Quaker’s worship.  The practice of removing the external distraction so one can be in the spirit with God.  Take a look at this website:  http://www.wfmc.net/essays/centering_down.htm.   When we are in the spirit, we are able to see and hear God differently.  Even in the centering down moments we may have to find a quiet place in order to remove ourselves from distractions.

As we think about this second form of meditation, we may become more aware of those in the Bible who used this form of meditation.  Take the time to read the book of Psalms, the Gospel especially areas where Jesus’ teaches his disciples and the book of Daniel.    

Week 12 – The Forms of Meditation - mediation Scripturarum

Celebration of Discipline Bible Study

Prepared by: Rev. Willetta Ar-Rahmaan

Week 12 – The Forms of Meditation - mediation Scripturarum

            In the last lesson we discussed how to prepare for meditation.  As we prepare for meditation we seek a place of comfort for us where there would be the least amount of distractions.  This will help us with the four different forms of meditation Foster outlines in the book: “mediation Scripturarum, re-collection, meditation upon creation and meditation upon current events”.

            The first form of meditation is “meditatio Scripturarum” which is the meditation upon scripture, “the meditation of Scripture centers on internalizing and personalizing the passage” (p. 29).

Meditation upon Scripture is not new it can be found through out the Bible.  So many of us have been meditating on scripture for God to speak to us, however many people meditate on the word for their own purpose so it can be used to oppress or promote a personal agenda.  This form of meditation is not what we are reading into the scripture but what the scripture is saying to us for our lives today.

When we meditation on Scripture we are allowing the word to resonate in our spirit to the point it becomes flesh. Too many times we want to study instead of meditate and thus our focus changes.  We are preoccupied with the meaning of each word rather than focusing on how the passage of scripture can be interpreted for practical, personal use in our daily lives. Unlike eastern meditation,   Christian meditation is not emptying our minds we are fully focusing on scripture we’ve read and seek a deep personal meaning for our lives. If we meditate on the word once or twice we are getting a surface meeting, however Foster suggests we spend a whole week on a single text according to Bonhoeffer.  When we spend a week on a whole text we engage our five senses and start to correlate things in our life with the text we have meditated upon.  This is what makes the text come alive because we have a better understanding.

            The more I read and reflect on the things I learned in seminary this is one thing that stayed with me over time meditation upon the scripture.  I love the fact when I’ve been meditating on a passage of scripture to preach, I feel I’m at a stumbling block suddenly God unlocks a memory, a song, an event that I can use as an example to make it plain.  God not only unlocks memory but sometimes we find ourselves in situations where we can apply or experience in today’s world what we were meditating on.  “It is important to resist the temptation to pass over many passages superficially.  Our rushing reflects our internal state and our internal state is what needs to be transformed” (p. 29).  This statement is true on many parts; there have been times I’ve meditated on a passage of scripture for a month because my spirit just wouldn’t rest until I truly made a connection within. 

            I performed a word search on meditation and the following scriptures appeared: Josh. 1:8; Psa. 1:2; Psa. 4:4; Psa. 19:14; Psa. 39:3; Psa. 49:3; Psa. 63:5, 6; Psa. 73:12–22; Psa. 77:10–12; Psa. 104:34; Psa. 119:11, 16, 23, 48, 55, 59, 78, 97–99,148; Psa. 139:17, 18; Psa. 143:5; 1 Tim. 4:13–15^[1].  Take the time to read and reflect on those but then go back and read a passage you have been wrestling with for a while.  If you don’t have one let me suggest one for you Psalm 112.  Meditate day and night, walk around with it on your mind and let it consume you.

Going Deeper:

1. Have you meditated upon scripture to the point that God gave you message or warning to share with the people? Did you share or not?
2. Why do you think people rather do a superficial meditation? Have you?

Next Lesson:  Re-Collection

           

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^[1]Swanson, James ; Nave, Orville: New Nave's. Oak Harbor : Logos Research Systems, 1994