The Discipline of Meditation

[I will be posting my church newsletter articles here this year. This is the January 2008 article.]

“Psalm 42:7 reads ‘Deep calls to deep.’ Perhaps somewhere in the subterranean chambers of your life you have heard the call to deeper, fuller living. You have become weary of frothy experiences and shallow teaching. Every now and then you have caught glimpses, hint of something more than you have known. Inwardly you long to launch out into the deep.” (Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster)

Does that paragraph describe you? If you’ve ever felt that way, or desire to feel that way, join me to explore spiritual disciplines this year. No, not discipline like in the Army, or the kind disbursed in the principal’s office, but the kind that deepen, strengthen, and enhance our relationship with God. These are practices reserved for spiritual giants or contemplatives in secluded monasteries. A deep and thorough knowledge of theology isn’t required. All that is required is a longing after God, and the attitude of your heart matters more than the mechanics of the discipline. Ready? Let’s go!

This month, let’s talk about meditation. Christian meditation differs distinctly from its Eastern and secular counterparts. Eastern meditation attempts to empty the mind and detach from the world; Christian meditation attempts to fill the mind and attach ourselves to God. The concept is thoroughly biblical, mentioned more than 58 times in the Bible. The stress is upon changed behavior as a result of our encounter with the living God. It is, simply put, hearing God’s voice and obeying what we hear. Most often, what we hear isn’t earth-shaking or dramatically prophetic, but is mundane and remarkably practical. Meditation is related to both study and prayer, but is distinct from both.

Too often, our time with God consists of reading His word (which certainly we ought to do) and praying (which certainly we ought to do). If God wishes to tell us something, he must interrupt us! At some point, to truly grow with God, we must learn to LISTEN. Jesus says his sheep know his voice and will follow him (John 10:27). We must train our ears to recognize his voice. We must press the ‘mute’ button of the world. To do this requires that we give some part of each day to meditation.

There’s no way to completely cover the topic here. I recommend the following books: Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster [on which these articles are based], and From Mind to Heart: Christian Meditation Today by Peter Toon [which is apparently out of print. How very grateful I am to the person who gave me my copy now. So, try The Art of Meditating on Scripture by Peter Toon instead.] There are many others, I’m sure.

I will share an exercise here, to get you started. I will be sharing others in Sunday evening Bible study.

Exercise.
Let’s use the parable of the grain of wheat, John 12:24-26. Take your Bible and find a comfortable seat, where you can put both feet on the floor. Read those verses several times, slowly. Consider what Jesus was saying. Focus on the grain of wheat. It represents you. Then sit your Bible aside, and put your hands on your knees, palms up. Have you fallen to yourself? If not, what in you need to die so that Christ can live through you? Are you bearing much fruit for Christ? What would that look like? What prevents you from bearing fruit? Maybe you don’t even want to die to yourself at this point. You’re scared of what you might be asked to give up for God. So tell God that. Then wait . . . and listen . . . for just five little minutes. Set a timer if you need, but stay in that place, and see what God says. End with a simple prayer, such as “Lord, let me be your wheat, sown for your harvest. Give me fresh hope and joy in serving you all the days of my life.”

May Christian meditation invigorate your spiritual life in this New Year!

Favorites

Today I thought I would share some of my favorite websites, message boards and blogs.

• First, there's Suzanne's blog O' Scrappy Day. Suzanne is an avid scrapbooker, and her creativity inspires me. Her sense of humor is amazing, and you'll enjoy getting to know her and her family through the snippets she shares on her blog. You can also find some other awesome scrapbook blogs and sites linked from there.
• Then there's Jayne's Feeling Scrappy. There's both a website and a message board. Jayne is one of the most creative and talented women I've ever met. Her photography is breathtaking! Check out the website. Visit the message board, and then take one of her classes.
• My latest, best find is E-Mealz. Each week, these ladies prepare 7 meal plans for you, using what's on sale in your grocery store (you can choose from several or do a general one). They even give you the shopping list. Meals are numbered, so you can easily eliminate any you don't want to use. I subscribe to the Weight Watchers menu plan, so they even calculate WW points for each menu! My family is eating healthier, and more at home, than ever before . . . and for less per week than I can waste in a vending machine!
• Plugged In Online is a great source! They review movies, television programs and music, and provide warnings about things that might concern you. Sometimes they are more concerned about something than *I* am, but at least I have a heads up. I can make an informed decision about whether to let my children listen or view the movie. I know when we should skip something, when I should view it WITH them, and when we'll need to discuss something they've seen or heard. I've used them with movies for a long time, but the music reviews are coming in very handy these days, too.
• North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church. I'm UM, and in the North Alabama Conference. This is our conference website. I recommend the eVoice -- a weekly email newsletter written by Bishop William Willimon. Dr. Willimon is former Dean of the Chapel at Duke University, and our present bishop. He is an extensive author. Though I do not always agree with everything he writes, I respect him and his position. His writing often challenges me, stretches me, and causes me to evaluate and wrestle with my own opinions.
• Mountain Lakes District. I'm not only UM, and in the North Alabama Conference, but in the Mountain Lakes District within that conference. I'm sharing this one primarily because it's a project I've been working on. It won't win any website awards, and has much work that still needs to be done, but it's taking shape, don't you think?

Is that enough for today? Yes, I know you're already shocked. I've updated my blog 1/2 as much this week as I did ALL OF LAST YEAR. Once you've picked yourself up from fainting, check out some of the above links.

Blog Challenge #1

In my last post, I said that Suzanne was sponsoring a blog challenge. Today was the first challenge: blog about your favorite wall hanging (family portraits excluded).

First, though, you must sit through a story. Since she excluded family portraits, I had exactly TWO things from which to choose, not that I want it that way. In fact, about 10 weeks ago, when I updated the master bedroom, I had plans of buying some wall art . . . but never got around to it. Now I'm motivated to follow through on that. Thanks, Suzanne. But since I only had two to choose from, this would be EASY! Piece.Of.Cake. I snapped the picture and headed to the computer. My new computer has a card reader slot -- no USB card reader needed, right? WRONG! MY card won't fit. Off to find the card reader. Now guess what. No, really, guess. The reader needs to be installed, so I hunted down the CD, but it wouldn't install. Exasperated, I head over to the Fujifilm website. ARGH! The driver won't work with Windows Vista. Now I need the cord to hook my camera directly to my computer, which prompted an intense search since I have used that cord since I got the camera several years ago. But I found it. Whew! Actually, I didn't find "it;" I found "one." Seriously doubt this is "the" one since it's a strange color. Probably goes with a child's video came something. Whatever. It worked. Now, you've been subjected to this story just so Suzanne will know how much effort I invested to complete her challenge. :-p Why can NOTHING be easy?!


Now, the challenge. . . .
This is a crocheted piece, on the wall in our dining room, above our wedding portrait. My husband used to work for a medical services company, delivering liquid oxygen to homebound patients, one of whom made this piece for him. He and I weren't married then--not even dating--but I love it for two reasons. First, I cannot crochet, and though several have tried to teach me, the creative ability necessary to plan stitch patterns like these boggles my brain. Second, it is a tribute to my husband. She spent a chunk of time on this piece, and to give it away is an amazing act of generosity. Our creative endeavors are more than outlets for our creativity; they are a way to touch those around us. This wasn't a casual gift. She chose Joseph. She saw in him what I see in him -- compassion, kindness and an ability to connect with others -- and this piece reminds me of those endearing qualities.

New Year, New Beginning

As you can tell, I've haven't been good about updating my blog. I was concerned about that when I started. But I've learned a few things these last several months. Want me to share? Sure. Listen closely. Write it down if you must. YOU CANNOT DO EVERYTHING, BUT YOU CAN KILL YOURSELF TRYING. So I'm learning to slow down.

It's a new year, and a new beginning. So I've been considering how his year will be different from other years. So here are my commitments.

• I will not take more than one class per semester. Between homeschooling, ministry, family, and seminary, I've been drowning. This means it will take me longer to get my M.Div. but at least I'll be alive (and with a family intact) to enjoy it.
• I will spend one hour a day in spiritual practices: study, meditation and prayer. No more cutting corners at 20 minutes on busy mornings. If I'm too busy for this, I'm too busy.
• I will exercise 3 days a week.
• I will take one day a month for me! Perhaps I will spend this day in my PJs all day long, or go shopping alone, or scrapbook with a friend.
• I will "date" my husband twice a month. At least twice each month, Joseph and I will spend some time together, alone, reconnecting with one another.
• I will update my blog regularly. Yep, made it a commitment. I'm participating in a friend's blog challenge. Suzanne is one of my bestest friends in the whole world. She'll keep me on track, I'm sure! She does a GREAT job with her blog. Check it out! O'Scrappy Day
• Finally, I will say NO to things that contradict these commitments.

So how's that?! New year, new beginning. What are you beginning this year?

Size 10

Yesterday, I bought my older son a new pair of shoes . . . in a SIZE 10. I almost fainted! His father wears size 10! I just cannot be that this baby I held in my arms less than 13 years ago, now has feet as large as his dad's. This was a jolting, heart tugging moment for me. Wow, does time whiz by or what?


But he's also a really great kid! We met friends for lunch at the mall, and while his brother went home with the friends we met, he and I went shopping. We had a really great time! Sorry to sound so surprised, but "shopping with my adolescent SON" probably isn't topping most people's lists of great ways to spend the afternoon. He was reasonable about the purchases he wanted to make, asked my opinion on the fit of a few things, and helped me carry the items I purchased.


The most amusing part is watching him begin to care what he looks like. A few years ago, clothes were clothes. You needed pants, shirt and shoes. Matching?! What's matching? LOL Now, however, his hair has to be "right" and he is beginning to want few items from particular stores. I'm not against this as long as it's not an attempt to boost his self-esteem or popularity, and doesn't become an obsession.

Whew! What a Month!

The month of June has been a whirlwind. I can hardly believe it's July 1st already!

During the month of June, I've been busy remodeling. Our homeschool group uses the Jackson family homeplace as our Resource Center. The original two rooms are more than 100 years old now. This year, I decided that the carpet MUST be changed while we were closed for our annual June sabbatical. That snowballed into new desks in the office, painting in four rooms, stripping and repainting wood trim, putting new vinyl and quarter round in the bathroom, repainting and changing hinges on several doors, installing a new front door, building and hanging a 4x8 bulletin board, installing an almost 4x8 dry erase board, hanging a new projector screen, painting two filing cabinets, re-topping some tables, and recovering some chairs. Whew!

We've were on a tight timeline because July 5th we re-open to enroll new families in our group, and I'd rather their first impression NOT be chaos!

Here are some pictures of the remodel:

BEFORE

AFTER

You can view all the progress pictures in my Image Event album. http://imageevent.com/tams2inal/resourcecenterremodel

The password is 'homeschool.'

Drop by and tell me what you think.

What did I tell ya?! It's been almost a month since I've updated my blog. When I started, I was concerned that I wouldn't update it regularly.

May was a busy month -- my finals in seminary classes, the boys completing their school work, two weeks of standardized testing, graduation celebrations both at church and within our homeschooling community, Mother's Day . . . . whew! I'm exhausted just recalling it all.

Once again, I'm learning how important it is to know your limitations, and to say no when it is appropriate. Thankfully, things have slowed down, and I'm enjoying my summer.