Meditation Words

-----Meditation Words-----

Meditating is only for ninjas and wizards... FALSE! Our perception of what meditation is has in part been twisted by movies. When I think of meditation, the first thought that comes to my mind is the Ninja Turtles. There is a specific scene in one of the movies where they have to meditate as a punishment. Balancing expertly while trying not to be distracted by pizza. Of course they fail, for it is common knowledge that the Ninja Turtles' greatest weakness is pizza. 

Being mystical does not make meditation. Reciting mantras does not make meditation. Mental gymnastics does not make meditation. We claim meditation to be a difficult practice although many of us already do it daily, simply on the wrong things...

We are so prone to meditate on "worry". We fill our minds with obscure realities and sometimes empower those false-realities with a voice loud enough to influence, or even overrun, day to day life. Practicing meditation is important. It is not a question of whether or not we meditate, it's a question of what do we meditate on. The meditating part, for us, is inevitable. The material on which we meditate is subject to change.

One of my biggest pet-peeves is when people say "like" over and over again for filler while speaking. Example: "It's like, a thing when like, you have to like, do that thing". Figure out what your trying to say, and like, say it... This annoys me to no end! I am not perfect, and I have a confession. When I was in high school I developed this weird habit of saying "and, a ummm" for filler while speaking. It was a terrible phase. Every sentence would contain "and, a ummm" before, after, or in the middle. It took 4 long weeks to finally break this atrocious habit. 

Our perception of reality is subject to the contents of our meditations. When we meditate on worry it obscures our vision of God's promises. It causes doubt and frustration towards God. Jeremiah 29:11 is a fact. Our perception of reality is twisted by meditating on worry and God's promises will appear far away. It is our choice to practice meditating on other things... better things... the best things.

It took 4 weeks for me to break the silly habit of saying "and, a ummm". I challenge you to spend the next 4 weeks being intentional about the things with which you fill your mind. The purpose is twofold:
-First, to break the habit of letting worry obscure the reality of God's promises.
-Second, to develop the daily practice of giving your thoughts to something worthy.

"Spencer's Guide to Practicing Christian Meditation 101"

1- Scripture. Have it with you. From a book into your heart. 

2- Catch yourself meditating on the wrong thing? Start thinking about the verse you decided to memorize.

3- Ponder scripture while you drive, bike, or walk to work. 

4- Daily repetition. Practice, practice, practice.  

Let's meditate. 

Here is content to meditate on:

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14

"The soul is dyed by the color of your thoughts."