Yesterday, President Obama reversed his earlier opinion and announced that a ban against gay marriage is unconstitutional. I’ll let others with more political savvy talk about the change of position on a crucial issue, the power of the executive office, and other earthly but important dynamics of our political system.
I will comment on how thoughtful Christians might respond.
By now, it’s old news. And I, for one, am glad the story’s over. IBM created a computer to compete against the two greatest Jeopardy players of all time. And, surprise of all surprises, the computer won. The way Alex Trebek talked about it, I think we were supposed to worship the computer. Or at least we were supposed to welcome this new technological development with wonder and joy. My responses were more of boredom and fatigue.
Do you battle “Seasonal Affective Disorder” during these gray days of February? Many people do. I find myself counting down the days until the end of the month, knowing that March is usually more upbeat for me. It doesn’t help that “Seasonal Affective Disorder” is often abbreviated “SAD.”
I’ve said that meditating on scripture has similarities to steeping a tea bag in hot water. As the tea permeates the water, so meditation on scripture can permeate our souls, our minds, and our hearts in powerfully transformative ways. But how do we practice this important discipline?
The Bible speaks a lot about meditation. But many Western Christians know little about this important discipline. Psalm 1 says that the blessed man, who doesn’t do things that wicked people do, replaces those activities with meditation upon God’s law, resulting in delight.
Part, but only a small part I believe, of the reason this discipline gets scant attention and even less practice is our fear of falling into other kinds of meditations, Eastern varieties, that seem strange or even dangerous.