book to practice

Renée Antrosio – September 4, 2023 5 Comments

Meditation is not something I ever attempted. Maybe because it sounded foreign and un-Christian. Or that sitting still and doing nothing did not appeal to me. Like other practices that people find helpful but don’t seem relevant to me, meditation seemed good for others.

When I began reading James Finley’s Christian Meditation: Experiencing the Presence of God, I had low expectations. Or rather, I thought I might learn some things that would contribute to a teaching or helpful advice to pass on to others, but I wasn’t planning on making any personal changes. 

A musical score does not become music until the musician begins to play. So, too, guidelines for meditation…remain but words on the printed page until you begin to meditate. I encourage you to begin meditating…consciously make a decision to enter into a more intimate relationship with God. Then ground your fidelity to this decision in some form of daily meditation and prayer. (p. 39)

I stopped reading. I had a decision to make. I put the book aside and considered- is this something I want or need or am willing to prioritize? So much of putting our intentions into practice depends on scheduling. Whether exercise, meals with friends, learning a new skill, or a spiritual practice- if we don’t designate a time, it won’t happen. 

So, brothers and sisters, because of God’s mercies, I encourage you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God. This is your appropriate priestly service. Romans 12:1 (CEB)

In my teens, this was an American evangelical youth group teaching to abstain from sex, alcohol, drugs, smoking, and illegal activities. Like the religion of Jesus’ day where holiness was about avoiding contamination, this version of Christianity focused on personal purity as a Not-to-do list. In Ron’s teaching, I heard this scripture differently than ever before. We are invited to daily present our whole selves, our physical bodies, to God and experiment to learn how to better love and be loved.

Allow your bodily stillness to embody your heart’s desire….Be simply present in a “Here I am, Lord” (1 Sam. 3:4) stance of openness to God. (p. 24)

In the morning, I recognize God’s presence in the early light, the birds, the beauty of the trees. During the course of the day, my mind becomes cluttered with tasks and anxieties, overrun with thoughts. My body becomes tense and tired. So I began prioritizing thirty minutes in the late afternoon for Christian Meditation, reading a few pages of Finley’s guide, and then practicing this ancient spiritual discipline, new to me. When I set aside time to sit still, sit straight, close my eyes- Finley’s guidelines for beginning a meditation practice- I present my whole body to God, living and available.

Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is—what is good and pleasing and mature. Romans 12:2 (CEB)

How do we be transformed? How can my mind- its constant chatter and repetitive loops of anxieties and judgements- be renewed? How do we grow up into mature lovers of God? I appreciate Ron’s encouragement to keep learning through experimentation how to be present to God every day, moment by moment. And so daily Christian meditation provides a space for me to present myself to God each afternoon and allow this practice to change my brain. 

I am still very new to this. Working my way through the book. I am surprised to find myself looking forward to the late afternoon island of stillness- time set apart for me and God alone. While we corporately learn to better love our neighbors as ourselves, I need to keep coming back to the first commandment- learning to love God with every part of myself- and letting that love transform my body, mind, and spirit. 

To practice meditation as an act of religious faith is to open ourselves to the endlessly reassuring realization that our very being and the very being of everyone and everything around us is the generosity of God…. We meditate that we might learn to see through Christ’s eyes the divine mystery of all that surrounds us.  (p. 9)

At 20, or 50, or 80- there is still so much to learn. May we continue to seek, continue to experiment, continue to present our bodies and brains to God for transformation. May we experience God’s marvelous mercies and grow into maturity and awareness of the divine mystery surrounding us. 

-Renée