Past and Present
There were several readings this week that I personally found very encouraging for my spiritual life. The fact that these great Christian giants from hundreds of years ago actually wrote about things that made so much sense to my 21st Century mind was highly fascinating. It struck me that even those who lived monastic lives – those who had literally and deliberately given up everything to do the work of God – went through the same struggles that I go through as I go about my busy little college life. This is not to say that I found pleasure in realizing that these great men also struggled in their faith so I could therefore give myself a pat on the back and walk away feeling good about myself, but that my relationship with Christ ought to be precious enough to me that I would, like these men, make intentional efforts to get to where I want to be in my walk with God. The one thing in common that was found in three of the works that address enriching an individual’s relationship with God is the concept of meditation.
Coming from a culture where meditation is usually tied in with going into a trance, idol worship, nirvana, emptying one’s mind, and other religious or New Age practices like martial arts and yoga, the word “meditation” has always caused me discomfort. In addition, my familiarity with contemporary evangelical Christian culture and how meditation seems to have such a surreal, “out-there” kind of feeling causes me to think that meditation in the Christian context is meant only for “holy” people from long ago who lived in monasteries out in the country and had nothing else to do with their abundance of time but meditate and keep on being holy. To my pleasant surprise, these “holy men from long ago” were actually rather down to earth and helped me to see that meditating on the Word of God and meditating on Him is nothing more than consistently dwelling on Him – His character and His works – and to be thankful for them. Indeed, such a discipline is the only way we can keep ourselves from drifting and falling out of love with God.
In Anselm of Canterbury’s “A Prayer to Christ,” the persona asks God to “turn [his] lukewarmness into a fervent love for [God]” (183). I immediately related with this when I read it and the first question that popped into my mind was “How?” This, he answers in his following lines: “by remembering and meditating on the good things you have done/I may be enkindled by you love” (183). Several chapters later, Bernard of Clairvaux writes in “On Loving God” that we can only find true, complete satisfaction in God, and “[t]o those that long for the presence of the Lord, the thought (italics mine) of Him is the sweetest of all things” (195). Finally, in “The Life of Christ” by Ludolf of Saxony, Ludolf encourages his readers to enter into the text and to allow the reading of God’s word to truly penetrate through their minds and their hearts. He writes that “although many of these are narrated as past events, you must meditate them all as though they were happening in the present moment because in this way you will certainly taste a greater sweetness” (220).
Too often in my life, with all the work I have to get done and all the reading I am required to complete, I want to rush through the text and move on the my next assignment. This habit then carries over to the reading of the Word and I am often discouraged at my lack of understanding. In his write-up about The Life of Christ, Allister McGrath writes that Ludolf’s recommended approach “slows down the reading process” (219). This helped me to realize that it is not just our modern society that struggles with not having time; even people in Ludolf’s time had to be reminded to slow down and allow the text to sink in – or rather, to sink into the text. To love God is to want to spend time with Him and to keep on loving Him is to continuously meditate on His love that we might not succumb to lukewarmness. The reading of these texts helped me to see that it is not about the century we live in that is the problem, but our attitude towards the things that we prioritize. Regardless of whether I live in the present or five hundred years ago, if I love God enough to want to meditate on His word day and night (Psalm 1:2), I will do so.
Work Cited
Anslem. “A Prayer to Christ.” Christian Literature: An Anthology . Allister E. McGrath. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers, 2001. 181-185. Print.
Bernard. “On Loving God.” Christian Literature: An Anthology . Allister E. McGrath. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers, 2001. 194-197. Print.
Ludolf. “The Life of Christ.” Christian Literature: An Anthology . Allister E. McGrath. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers, 2001. 218-220. Print.