By Rula Samain

Meditation is a way of connecting and communicating with God, the creator of heaven and earth, and also to be in His presence thus filled with His love.
Meditation is not alien to the writer of these lines, nor should it be to those who find satisfaction in their daily reading of the Bible. The Bible speaks of meditation in several places and on a number of occasion. In one of many, Psalm 119:78 says: “As for me, I will mediate on thy precepts,” is one of many.
To put it clear, Christian Mediation and all other kinds of mediations are two worlds stand apart.
Christian meditation brings the person closer to God, gives confidence because of the love connection, and provides answer to many questions. It is a personal growth in Christ, a spiritual one. To mediate is not difficult when one dedicates time, has the will and the eagerness to be connected with the provider of love.
This practice is meant to bring us closer to the heart of God.
Ancient, yet contemporary, meditation is missing in our daily Christian life.
To many Christians meditation is a word foreign to the ears, rather it is a word widely connected with and rooted in Yoga, or Zen and Buddhist practices.
There is a longing in each of us to break free from life’s burden, to be released from the pains of the days, and seek to be flouting in the effortless blissful freedom.
The non-Christian meditation is a method similar to the controlling the brain waves to eventually improve the physiology and emotional state, detaching the person from the surrounding confusion.
While detachment from reality means freedom to some and is the final goal, it, in fact leads to loss of

identity among other issues on the long run.

Christian meditation detaches the faithful from the surrounding confusion, to develop attachment with the One who created us: “now the Lord is the spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom,” Corinthians 3:17. And here lies the ultimate difference.
In meditation, the faithful fulfills the inner emptiness and void with merely being close to God’s heart, feeling the endless love, feeling loved, thus fulfilled, and set free.
I believe no one should practice meditation merely because someone else is doing it; it demands our best thoughts and energy, and dedication.
Since many are seeking earthly mediation to ease the pain of the busy life of today, I truly believe that meditation should not be excluded, if it really is, to priests and pastors or limited to church group circles, but the faithful and church congregations should be encouraged to practice it, which, in my opinion, constitutes a serious step to church revival.

• Researcher and writer on intercultural dialogue, social peace and reconciliation