A recent article on the BBC’s business page stated that “the thought of quiet contemplation … is, in today’s world, ridiculous.” People have no desire to contemplate the meaning of life. They want to be entertained. The writer went on to state that our desire to be constantly entertained is killing our creativity and our ability to live meaningful lives.
The presence of constant entertainment fuels the need for constant entertainment. Because entertainment is so available, we live meaningless lives; and because we have lived meaningless lives, we fear to think. We fear to face our emptiness. Instead, we seek more entertainment to keep us from thinking about the pointless nature of our existence. It is a downward spiral.
That the average person’s life is lived this way should not surprise us. But how can Christians live this way? The biblical term is “meditation” rather than “contemplation”, but the task is expected of us, whichever term is used. We are to meditate on God’s word (Jos 1:8; Psalm 1:2; 119:15). We are to meditate on God’s actions (Psalm 119:27; 143:5; 145:5) and on his promises (Psalm 119:148).
If we are too busy to think, we are too busy.
If we have so much ready entertainment that we rarely meditate, we have too much entertainment.
If we know so little of God’s word, deeds, and promises that we find little material for meditation, then we need to reorder our priorities, learn more of him, and apply our minds to the task of meditation on his words, deeds, and promises. Failure to do so will deaden our spirits and increase our emptiness. Doing so will boost our creativity and energize our spirits.
No comments:
Post a Comment