(This is part 1 of 6 excerpts from the book 4 Simple Steps to Better Scripture Meditations. The other excerpts are listed below this post and are available when highlighted)
Why I Wrote This
The single most often asked question I get when talking about
my books is, “
where do you get your ideas for the meditations?” This question has puzzled me for so long. I have always had to say, “
well, I really don’t know where my ideas come from.” Unfortunately that makes me sound like an idiot, a genius, or a mystic. Ask my wife, I’m none of these. On second thought, don’t ask her!
After years of being asked this question I decided that I needed to find out if there was some sort of system or process that I go through when writing without knowing it. First of all, it would help me to learn how to do it better and write better meditations. Second, I would be able to answer that meditation question confidently. Finally and most importantly, I’d be able to pass on ideas and methods to others to help them grow closer to Christ.
Think About Your Thinking
Have you ever thought about your thinking? That was the question I asked myself when I first started trying to discover how I arrived at my meditations. This was something I had picked up years ago. It’s a simple habit but it is very powerful. How we think determines who we are. Here’s a challenge. First, set an alarm on your watch or phone for a random time sometime today or tomorrow. Second, when that timer goes off take an inventory of your thoughts for the previous 10-15 minutes. Finally, examine your inventory. Were your thoughts during that time positive or negative? Were they productive, relaxing, frustrating, or peaceful? Was your inner dialogue one that could be described as Christian? Are negative inner dialogues a common occurrence? Is a peaceful, even-keeled inner dialogue a regular part of who you are? What is it that you found in your inventory that needs the most work? The least?
Thinking about your thinking may not seem important but it is foundational for what we are about to learn. Self reflection and being able to control how we think is extremely important to successfully learning the following 4 Steps to Better Scripture Meditations. You’ll see this clearly as we go through each step.
I took some time to study my prayer and meditation and writing. I eventually trained myself to stop when I had that “aha” moment, that moment when I really felt God speaking to me. My tendency was to continue to meditate and enjoy being in the presence of God, which isn’t a bad thing. What I began doing instead is stopping at that moment and examining what had led me to that point. Let me say though, I don’t want to give the impression that this was all my doing. It was most certainly grace and the Holy Spirit. However, it is true that grace builds on nature and what I discovered is that I was setting myself up to be open to the Holy Spirit.
I started examining my train of thought working backwards from that grace moment and began to see a pattern emerge. Like I mentioned above, I took an inventory of what I was thinking and which thoughts or practices led to the next step. Once I found out what it was that I was doing, I began to experiment and see if it was consistent and repeatable. It was.
Please do not misunderstand; I don’t want this to sound like this is some sort of magic trick or “new age” meditation practice because it isn’t. It is a way, not
the way, of meditating and listening for God’s voice. Later I’ll address what to expect and the idea of it “working or not working”. It’s not a shortcut to God or an ancient mystic prayer. It’s 4 Simple Steps that I have found to be consistent and effective in my prayer life and meditation. It’s 4 Simple Steps that have made me more open to the workings of the Holy Spirit and I hope you will benefit as well.
What is Meditation?
To me, meditation is a way of growing closer to God by thinking deeply in and upon His word. It’s also a way of listening and seeking. Seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be open to you.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says it more beautifully than I ever could:
“Meditation is above all a quest. The mind seeks to understand the why and how of the Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking. The required attentiveness is difficult to sustain. We are usually helped by books, and Christians do not want for them: the Sacred Scriptures, particularly the Gospels, holy icons, liturgical texts of the day or season, writings of the spiritual fathers, works of spirituality, the great book of creation, and that of history the page on which the "today" of God is written.
“To meditate on what we read helps us to make it our own by confronting it with ourselves. Here, another book is opened: the book of life. We pass from thoughts to reality. To the extent that we are humble and faithful, we discover in meditation the movements that stir the heart and we are able to discern them. It is a question of acting truthfully in order to come into the light: "Lord, what do you want me to do?"
“There are as many and varied methods of meditation as there are spiritual masters. Christians owe it to
themselves to develop the desire to meditate regularly, lest they come to resemble the three first kinds of soil in the parable of the sower. But a method is only a guide; the important thing is to advance, with the Holy Spirit, along the one way of prayer: Christ Jesus.
“Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the conversion of our heart, and strengthen our will to follow Christ. Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the rosary. This form of prayerful reflection is of great value, but Christian prayer should go further: to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him.” (CCC 2705-2708)
Before We Begin
When writing my rosary meditation book,
Rosary Meditations for Real Life, I tried to approach God as a child approaches his father. Even more so, like a child approaching his father with a handful of puzzle pieces to a 1000 piece puzzle. Can you help me Lord? Can you help me find where these fit? Can you help me in some way see your plan for me more clearly? And so, I would ask God to help me see things in the mysteries of the rosary, or in scripture that I was struggling with like addiction, marriage, children, death of a loved one and more.
Through these four steps I was able each time to find what it was that God wanted to show me. I asked and he gave. I sought and found. Now, it wasn’t always the way I had imagined. In fact, when I followed these steps and came to an answer that I really didn’t understand, I knew it was me and not the Lord. God is a God of peace, simplicity and beauty. He’s not complicated if we are open to His love. We’ll talk more about this in Step 4.
God is a loving father. He wants what is best for us. No matter what your experience with your earthly father, trust your Heavenly Father. He loves you. He wants to speak to you. He wants to spend time with you. In order to allow God the opportunity to do this, we must make room in our lives, in our minds, and in our hearts for Him. And that is the first step in meditation.
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