MEDITATION

There is an interesting phenomonen occuring in the Christian world at large. There are many possible reasons for it i.e. the restlessness that fills so much of the current society; the need for constant stimulation of one kind or another; the hunger for 'newness' and originality; the desire for a God made in the image we want to worship; a hunger for a oneness with all faiths that would minimize strife or stress; the 'can't we all get along' syndrome; the fear of 'intoerance' ; the 'all I want is love' mindset.



We dream of a time when we can really experience 'the peace that passes all understanding' in every situation. I have come to accept the fact that we can get close at times - but that real fulfillment will come when we are face to face with our Lord and fully understand His Presence.



I read an account of a man who was trying to explain to his son what has happened in the last 75 years in this country. His grandparents had lived on a farm miles away from any neighbors. After they had their breakfast at dawn, they took out time to read the Bible together and to pray. Then Mr. would go out to the acreage and feed the animals and then off to the plow to get the fields ready for planting.



While he was plowing, the only sounds he heard were the slight whispers of the wind; an occasional bird flying by; the horses neighing and that was about it. So his mind was completely free to meditate on the Scriptures he had read that morning. He could take a short passage of the Bible and chew on it as he moved along the long rows. As a result - he developed a love for his Lord and for the lifestyle that made it possible for him to come to really know Him.



Meanwhile, back at home, his wife was doing laundry by hand and humming her favorite hymns. The words were precious to her and the meaning of them grew as she rehearsed them over and over again. There was no washing machine, no dishwasher, no TV, no radio - just the sound of her own voice until the youngn's got back from school. She meditated as she worked and continually sent praises up to her Lord.



When we contrast that with our lives we can see that a real hindrance to that peaceful life is distraction. I'm not talking about the distractions of little ones, because there is no doubt that they had their share of them. But the man-made distractions that constantly surround us.



I remember the introduction of TV into my life. We watched Kookla, Fran and Ollie every night at 6:00pm. It was a half hour show - and we raced to finish dinner in time to watch it. That should have been my first clue. But the truth of the matter is we loved the distraction. It got better and better. Before long, we had a show every night besides CF&A. We had Milton Berle! We had the Hit Parade. We had Gene Autry. And again, before we knew it we had cultural offerings that were really 'good' for us.



My parents had the good sense to control just how much TV we could watch because we had to 'get out of the house and play". We needed time to let our imaginations grow.



And then the '50's came along with "I love Lucy", Perry Mason, all kinds of cops and robbers shows, and Ed Sullivan who introduced us to the Beatles and Elvis. From that point on, almost everyone's TV was on most of the time. We had news programs; culture programs; dramas; comedies; etc . There was always something good to watch. So why not watch it? That was our philosophy.

I honestly don't know what happened in the 60's because I was too busy taking care of my four little boys - working in an election campaign - going to school conferences etc. By nighttime - I rarely got to see anything all the way through because that was my time to catch up on laundry, mending, writing letters, setting up menus, visiting with neighbors etc. But by the time of the 70's I began to realize that something about TV had changed.

We couldn't let the kids choose just any show to watch because profanity had seeped in, along with violence that we would never have let them go to a movie to see, and sexual inferences and dress that didn't fit into our plan for raising godly children. But worse than all that - TV had become a monster that ate up valuable time. Time that should have been spent in playing outdoors; studying; practicing music; relating to each other & etc.

Meditation was out of the question if that technology was constantly in use. So we gave our TV vacations for months at a time. It would go up in the attic and our home would return to normal. We would finally bring it down for the Super Bowl and then allow it to stay down until Dad or I felt that it was being abused again.

Meditation is one of the most valuable gifts that God has given us. It takes time and deep thought to absorb all that our Bible has to say to us. Each verse is like a doorway into a room full of beautiful and fruitful truths to examine and absorb. Many people today have come to that realization and are making a conscious effort to set aside time to dig into the wonders of Christianity and pass them along to others. I thank God for them.

I don't know how people are able to raise kids today without consciously drawing them apart from their highly technological lives. We have not only TV to contend with - but also Ipods, Blackberries, Cell phones (along with texting) and who knows what's next?

There is a very high cost for this technology - and it's not money. Some of us are robbing our loved ones of sound minds and Christ-shaped character. I may sound 'old-fashioned' and I am, but not all things new are necessarily good.