Listening to the Heart

Sermon, August 21, 2011

Psalm 131

Mark 6:30-32

Psalm 131

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up,
   

my eyes are not raised too high;


I do not occupy myself with things
  

 too great and too marvelous for me. 


But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
   

like a weaned child with its mother;
   

my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.


O Israel, hope in the Lord
   

from this time on and for evermore.

Mark 6:30-32

 The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.

Have you ever sat by the side of a river or a lake, and just watched the sun dappling the rippled surface? Maybe you were fishing, or maybe just sitting there. Or maybe you were up in a snow-covered cabin, sitting next to a fireplace watching the fire crackle and leap out of the logs. Or maybe you were sitting on a log at the oceanside, mesmerized by the ceaseless rhythms of the waves coming in and out.  How did you feel? Did you feel a sense of calm come over you, at least until that fish came on your line or that ocean wave soaked your feet?

Or how about this: have you ever gotten so absorbed in a task or a project that you lose all track of time and about any other engagement or task? For instance, for me, if I start working in my garden pulling weeds or adjusting the drip system I’ll finally look up and realize that I really can’t see what I am doing anymore, and notice that 3-4 hours have just gone by. I might also be kind of hungry, too. (Those of you who have seen my backyard garden will know that this hasn’t happened in a while.)

If you have had any experiences like these that I have described, you are fully equipped and ready to learn Christian meditation. You may be surprised to hear me talk about Christian meditation. You might associate meditation with Eastern religions like Buddhism or Hindu yogis up in the mountains. But actually, meditation is a practice found in every religion, including Judaism and Christianity and Islam. It is all based in a basic capacity of human beings to focus our attention on something, and to become absorbed in that something.

We all have the capacity to meditate. Have you ever worried about something or dwelled on a problem or an insult? Then you have experienced how easily the mind can focus on something and concentrate all its incredible mental efforts. Meditation takes this basic human capacity and trains it towards a spiritually profitable end. This is related to Jesus’ admonition not to worry about things we can’t change. Instead, we should focus the prodigious mental capacities on the things we can address: our thoughts and the inclination of our hearts. Meditation provides such a training. It is a training in listening carefully for the voice of God that is roaring and whispering around us all the time.

So it is that when Jesus says not to be anxious about attaining the things that maintain this life, his statement is based on the knowledge that the things we focus our attention upon will shape our lives. We are to focus our attention upon the kingdom of God/heaven, and all these other things will come along in due course. The point is that Jesus is introducing a practice of training the mind.  He is not introducing this idea to scold us or to make us feel inadequate. He is instead providing clear directions to take our natural capacities and harness them for the work of being formed by the Spirit of God after the fashion of the kingdom of God. And as always, we must remember that when Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of heaven, he is referring to this life here and now, and how to train up our lives to live accordance with it here and now. 

Our present reality here and now is that we have these bodies controlled by these minds. We must deal with them as bodies and minds. We must work with them in the manner with which they are designed to work. We don’t force them to do things they are incapable of doing. Rather, we train and discipline them according to what they are already designed to do. Hence, the admonition not to be anxious refers to the body/mind’s natural tendency to “dwell” on things.

The basic goal of Christian Meditation is to train up our hearts and minds to be attentive to the presence of God in life. That was the basic goal of the teaching and life of Jesus: to show his followers how the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven is here and now – in our midst and within ourselves. Christian Meditation focuses our awareness on this reality by training our hearts and minds.

Practicum in Christian Meditation

There are a variety of specific methods for engaging in Christian Meditation. This morning I wish to show you a method which is a very simple way to begin to train the mind to focus attention on the Word of God. The problem with focusing our attention is that our minds like to wander and pursue every little thought that comes along: our grocery list, the argument we had last night, the kids’ dental checkup, whatever. Teachers of meditation will often tell the story of the Indian mahout – the person who rides and leads the elephants in parades or through towns in India. The problem with elephants going through towns and market places is that their trunks go this way and that, picking up this bunch of bananas or that melon, and the mahout would be spending a lot of money repaying all the vendors. So they give the elephant a stick to hold onto, and it doesn’t wander everywhere. Our minds are like the elephant’s trunk, so we will give it something to hold onto to focus its attention. We will give it a short phrase from this morning’s Psalm reading: “hope in the Lord
.”

What we will do is first sit in an upright but relaxed posture in our seats. Lay your hands gently in your laps, perhaps laying one on top of the other. Shift your hips a bit, settle your shoulders down, gently rock your head into an upright position. Take a couple of deep breaths to settle in.

We always begin with a prayer that invites the Holy Spirit into our Meditation. Let my words be your words: “Come, Holy Spirit, come. Breathe your life into our lives. Be present in our hearts and minds. We give this meditation to you.”

Now take that phrase, “hope in the Lord,” and very slowly, silently repeat it to yourself.

Slowly repeat it.

If your mind wanders, return gently to the phrase. “Hope in the Lord.”

At the end of the time say a simple prayer of thanks.

Slowly open your eyes. If you wish, bow your head in gratitude to God.