Finding Solitude Wherever & Whenever You Can Find It
Last week we visited great friends in Alberta, with the goal of hiking some incredible trails in the Canadian Rockies. This is something we do every year and this trip did not disappoint.
Spending time together and pushing ourselves on the hikes is a great combination. The last hike was our toughest and most diverse yet...it was awesome. Challenging (and a little scary at times) but we pushed ourselves to 600m elevations that included scrambling (getting on all-fours) in sections. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little concerned for Kathy. One wrong move would have meant serious injuries.
But we did it.
And once at the top, we would, grab a drink, and a snack, then someone would invariably say, "Okay, time for some solitude!"
We would sit, pause, take in the scenery and just revel in the quietness of the beauty all around us. (And try to recover from the climb before the descent). In all honesty we didn't stay quiet for more than 5 minutes, but it was meaningful nonetheless.
More Than Solitude
Over the past few weeks I have been focusing on the practice of solitude with all it's challenges and benefits, and there are plenty.
But what if there was even more? Something that would take quiet solitude to a whole other level?
I believe there is something and it's this...
Meditation
There are numerous benefits from the practice of meditation, just as there are from quiet solitude. For example, meditation can...
- lower stress by reducing cortisol
- lower blood pressure
- improve sleep
- combat anxiety and depression
You may be asking, "Dan, isn't meditation sitting cross-legged on the floor with hands lifted with palms up, chanting weird sounds?"
Meditation rooted in Eastern philosophy and religion does resemble that to some extent...but I would argue there are physical & emotional benefits to it.
But as a Christian I want to explore meditation as described in the scriptures.
Psalm 1:1-2 says,
"Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night."
Did you catch that last part? "Delight is in the law of the Lord, and meditates on His law, day and night."
This is in the form of an infinity loop, where the writer who delights in God's law, meditates on it day & night, and when he meditates on God's law day & night, he delights in it.
The obvious questions I want to ask myself when I read these verses are,
Q. Do I delight in God's law?
Q. Do I meditate on God's law day & night?
Q. How do I meditate on God's law?
Maybe you are asking the same questions. I hope you are, because I believe that this is a game changer for us who call ourselves Christ-followers.
First, lets start with what true meditation is.
"Meditation is quietly reciting the words of scripture aloud, or in your mind as a way to focus your attention, so that these words become a part of you."
I would argue that meditation from the eastern philosophies and religions are meant to have you look inside yourself, while biblical meditation is focused on looking outside of ourselves, ultimately to God's word, for our benefit.
Meditation is focused attention on God's word, so that it gets in to us for the purpose of changing us day by day into the image of Christ. Is there anything more important than that?
This sounds like much more than solitude, as important as that is. It's making the most of the solitude we so desperately want and need in our lives, giving it more meaning and purpose.
There are times when sitting quietly in solitude, perhaps reciting what we are grateful for or simply taking in our surroundings like on a mountain top is good.
But in my humble opinion, meditation takes our quiet spaces to a whole other level of meaning and purpose.
What do you think of when you hear the word meditation? Is it a foreign idea? A weird idea? Something only monks in monasteries do?
Or could meditation be a cornerstone of Christian faith and practice?
I will most definitely argue for the latter.
But you ask, "How can I meditate on the Bible when I have such a hard time understanding it?" This a common frustration I hear often and I will take a closer look at that next time.
Until then - Dan