I’ve said that meditating on scripture has similarities to steeping a tea bag in hot water. As the tea permeates the water, so meditation on scripture can permeate our souls, our minds, and our hearts in powerfully transformative ways. But how do we practice this important discipline?
The Bible speaks a lot about meditation. But many Western Christians know little about this important discipline. Psalm 1 says that the blessed man, who doesn’t do things that wicked people do, replaces those activities with meditation upon God’s law, resulting in delight.
Part, but only a small part I believe, of the reason this discipline gets scant attention and even less practice is our fear of falling into other kinds of meditations, Eastern varieties, that seem strange or even dangerous.
William Powers book, Hamlet’s Blackberry, urges us to include age-old disciplines in our digitally-overfull lives. I want to apply these techniques in my pursuit of wisdom:
– Stay completely disconnected from my computer and iPhone while having a quiet time. My Bible (the paper one), a notebook, and pen are sufficient.
William Powers has written an attention grabbing book (#4443 on Amazon) and thoughtful Christians should take note. He chose an intriguing title – “Hamlet’s Blackberry” and adds a subtitle of “a practical philosophy for building a good life in the digital age.” Powers joins the growing chorus of social critics who observe that all this digital connectedness is making us hollow, shallow, and less human.
Ten years ago, I was given a copy of Operation World, a prayer guide to every country in the world. After recovering from the marvel at all the work required to produce such a tool, I began to use it on a regular basis to pray for the world.
But the book was almost obsolete the minute it was published. Just days after its 2001 release, terrorists