Most of us are used to living in a world of “breaking news.” Even when we want to shut out information, we are constantly bombarded with information that was unimaginable to past generations. It’s not just FOX and CNN, it’s also solving everything from show interruptions, billboard assaults, attention-grabbing fluorescent store signs, iPhone games, text messages, emails, and snot to legal troubles. Promising TV ads vie for our attention. , our money. It’s just a part of how we do things and how we live our lives.
(There was once a theory among psychiatrists that schizophrenia was caused, at least in part, by the mind being immersed in too many sensory perceptions and unable to digest the flow of information.) I would argue that modern life has disproved this theory, otherwise the entire population of the world would be diagnosed with schizophrenia!
Others are also reading…
Therefore, the events that I am calling your attention to today probably seem even the slightest bit unlikely. But today, April 18, 1930, the BBC evening news was broadcast with his four-word announcement simply: “No news.” The rest of the news period was spent listening to Wagner’s opera Parsifal.
I can’t help but think of the question, “How would today’s viewers react if one of the major news sources started their evening news hours the same way?” No wars, no mass shootings, no political commentary. My personal opinion is that there will be a collective negative reaction. We are used to living in a world of melodrama with a constant flow of emotional substance.
My mind flashed back to a long-time friend of mine, a Baptist pastor. He went to a new church and made a few additions to the order of Sunday morning services. Just before pastoral prayer, he inserted a minute of quiet personal prayer. I was completely surprised by the negative response. People were appalled at the “waste” of time imposed on them by the new preacher.
My own explanation for this reaction is that they were not evil-minded people seeking conflict, but rather a reflection of our emotional systems overindulging in the sensational aspects of everyday life. It means that it is something. To put it a little more succinctly, as spiritually minded people, we have forgotten how to meditate while praying. (Let me just point out the difference between the Eastern understanding of meditation in Buddhism and Hinduism. Meditation is a very healthy form of meditation, but it is a concept of not thinking and emptying the mind. Christian meditation is listening. As part of our prayer life, it’s not just about expressing our gratitude, praise, worries, and supplications to the Lord; it’s just as important to hear God’s answers and guidance.
For a contrasting model of a highly spiritually successful life, we need look no further than Jesus himself. At virtually every major event in his ministry, Jesus found solitude where he could be alone to not only talk (pray) with his Heavenly Father but also listen to the guiding Spirit (meditate). . Before the miracles, after the healings, before the multiplication of the five loaves and the two fishes, before the teachings, after the proclamations, early in the morning, late at night, in every situation of service imaginable, especially before the crucifixion of Jesus. He meditated not only before setting out on his mission, but also in between his missions. One of the best examples of Jesus’ reliance on the practice of meditation can be found between the lines of the famous story of Jesus feeding his 5,000. He probably prayed and meditated before that for strength and guidance, but also prayed afterward to renew the spiritual strength he expended in his ministry.
The psalmist’s description thousands of years ago of a man who refuses to follow the advice of evildoers is not only accurate today, but applies equally to virtuous character. and according to his law he meditates day and night. ”
