Rest in Peace

Rest in Peace

By Kenneth Westby

A few weeks ago I was in Norway standing above the buried remains of my grandparents. The marker summarized their days on earth: Oline Vestbostad, 1869 – 1947 and Karl Vestbostad, 1869 – 1948. Their only son and my father, Clarence, died in Chicago in 1943 when I was four years old. I never knew them and have only weak memories of my father.

Like most graveyards the setting was peaceful and quiet. It was especially so in this tiny village on an island along the North Sea. The graveyard surrounded a very old Norwegian Lutheran church. The stone alter within the quaint building was set in the year 1000 A.D.

Even the big city cemetery where my father lies offers an oasis of restful quiet. Rosehill cemetery is the earthly final destination for over six million dead Chicagoans. It is hard to picture six million people squeezed into a few square city blocks in Chicago’s north side. The effect is profound: a sea of green grass punctuated with row upon row of grave stones, many stately, beautiful trees…and silence

From time to time I randomly visit graveyards just to savor their peace and quiet, to read markers and to imagine the people below my feet who once were as alive as I am. I recommend to anyone to take an occasional meditative visit to a local picturesque cemetery to sample its peace and quiet. The benefit of such a visit is best enjoyed if made from above ground.

Beyond Graveyard Visits

The meditative solace of a graveyard visit is not likely to be appreciated by most folks. There is something in us that avoids serious, sustained mediation on the weighty things of life. The big questions of:”Who is God? How do I know he exists? What is he like? What does he want with me? Who am I, really? Why am I? What is my purpose for living?” And then the rubber-to-the-road question, “How then shall I live?”

I venture that we all pass these questions through our brains from time to time, but we don’t let them linger long enough to evoke a satisfying answer. Such pondering, we figure, requires heavy mental lifting and that seems like work, spiritual work at that. So we leave the big questions aside for some future time better suited for such toilsome meditations. I suspect that for many of us serious meditation is like cleaning the toilets; we know it needs doing, but we put it off until things get so bad we just have to do it, or we simply hire someone else to do it for us.

I don’t know precisely why we react thus, but it probably has to do with avoidance. Ideas have consequences. So do thoughts and actions. If we mediate deeply on an issue we become responsible to live with and act upon our conclusions. If we avoid thinking too deeply about issues we don’t feel obligated to conclude anything, or take any specific action. We can just bump along taking care of the business of daily living and leave the meditating to monks, the sick, and old people ready to die.

I don’t think I’m exaggerating our common reluctance toward serious meditation. My constructive purpose here is to propose ways to overcome that reluctance and begin reaping the profound benefits of peace, quiet, and happiness that can come to you no other way.

Mediation is . . .

Meditation is sustained, focused, serious thinking. It can be about anything—job, sports, health, hobby, travel, politics, money, whatever. Our focus here is spiritual meditation. You could call it biblical or religious meditation, though I don’t like those terms. They can evoke unrealistic, irrelevant images of piety, priests, nuns, churches and stained glass.

The meditation I have in view--and it is “biblical”--is that contemplation of the big issues of life as lived before God. It is a pondering that seeks guidance and answers. It is creative musing upon how God is working with you. It is introspection into your strengths and weaknesses with an eye toward becoming more whole. It is study and planning for future actions. It is problem solving. It is sorting out what really matters in your life and keeping that big picture front and center. It is seeking understanding of God, his plan, his laws and his specific calling for you. In short, it is undisturbed serious thinking about what is really important.

My experience with surface, shallow people tells me they don’t meditate much. They live for the moment, for present or future pleasures, for feeling good, for appearances. They can’t discuss much beyond work, sports, or soaps. They avoid quiet time and non-fiction. If a conversation moves into religious or moral matters they flee like a vampire before the cross. When I meditate upon it, I can see shallowness in myself.

God speaks through the psalmist declaring, “Be still, and know that I am God.”[1] In order to think clearly about the weightier matters we need to stop our normal train of thought, get off the busy track, walk out into the woods and quietly think. This is meditating and it is best done in quiet. It can be done sitting alone at a table in a busy restaurant, but constant distractions will impede all but the most disciplined. Find a place(s) to retreat to. It must be near enough for daily visits. It can be a room in your home, a porch, a patio, a shed, your car, a park bench, the woods, the beach, or in your bed. Finding a place will not be as challenging as actually being quiet and meditating.

Coram Deo

The high form of meditation I describe is that done “before the face of God,” coram Deo, in the words of the historic church’s confessions, creeds and songs. Meditation and prayer are similar in that God is in view and a party to both. Prayer is direct discourse with the Creator, great Yahweh. Spiritual meditation is not directly speech with God, it is your speech with yourself, your thoughts, your reflections—all done in his presence, coram Deo. He is always in the picture no matter what the focus of your thoughts.

Many Psalms are direct prayers to Yahweh where the psalmist intends for others to join in, whether in song or private prayer. Others psalms are combination prayers and meditative reflections. Some are purely meditative. Of many examples we will chose one: Psalm 53 where Kind David meditates upon the big questions and contradictions of life. Let’s take a lesson on how he meditates.

As if conditioning his mind to think like God, he declares, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” We in the twenty-first century are not alone is dealing with people who are agnostic or proudly atheistic. They may be smart, popular, powerful, write books and have positions of authority, but this one fact makes them “a fool.” We need not be intimidated by them for God has already flunked them out of school for missing the most important question on the test.

Further, when you analyze their lives, examples, policies, and actions you realize that from these are produced the corruption and evil that fill our world (vs 1). David had in view the corrupt nations and evil people of his day. Today, all we need do is insert the names of nations and people easily identifiable as corrupt and evil. In his meditations he strove to view his world as God would view it. Not surprisingly, David’s world is just like ours; the basics remain the same. In David’s day the key players were God, Satan, and man--with his indelibly selfish human nature. Has anything changed?

“God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God” (vs 2).

David’s picture of the world was bleak, “Everyone has turned away.” He mused, “Will the evildoers never learn…?” (vs 4). He concluded that only the judgment of God confronting the evildoers could stop the sorry condition of his world. He knew ultimately, God would bring up short all who mock and sin. He knew it was beyond his power to change the world, but he reflected that not only was God able to change the world, he was committed to it.

These meditative thoughts led David to look hopefully toward that better world God had promised. He yearned, “Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!” His meditation ended on a positive note – the coming time of restitution, blessings and good fortunes for his nation (vs 6) -- a time when Israel would “rejoice and be glad!”

Psalm 53 is a brief meditation of David but what a journey it takes. He begins with people problems, the dismal world situation, the lack of belief in the true God, and gradually he gains perspective by thoughts of how God must view the madness of men. He ponders it. He concludes that there are answers and solutions to what disturbs him. The answers he discovers are found in the mind and plan of God. Further fretting on his part is useless. David, rather than remain negative, can now begin to have peace and even joy in the future. Quiet meditation, coram Deo. will do that for us.

Making Your Bed

You’ve heard the old saw, “As you have made your bed, so you must lie on it”? It’s a lie. If I have made my bed uncomfortable, please God I will make it again. We have the freedom before God to restore our lives. Godly repentance is about restoration to the good condition of mind and life God wants for us. Restoration won’t hit us over the head; we must seek it. Meditation is a means of coming to grips with what’s wrong with our bed of life.

The answers to our problems are not usually found in some “new thing,” like the portly chasing slimness via the latest diet pill or exercise machine advertised on TV. An appetite for the latest and greatest is cultivated by slick marketing, but once we slake it -- with the upgrade, the device, the car -- the anticipated thrills and happiness usually don’t materialize, or if they do they soon become yesterday’s breakfast.

Before you spend a chunk of money on a desire, take some quite time to ponder your move. Do we feel we must ask for new things because the old things are…well, old? When it comes to religion many folks are bored with their past faith and are constantly looking for something new and different to excite, divert, and entertain.

Many Christians find it hard to read the Bible because they’ve “already read all that.” They know the oft told stories of Moses and Pharaoh, Daniel and the Lion’s den, Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection. The whole idea is that “we have got all the good that can be got out of the ideas of the past. But we have not got all the good out of them, perhaps at this moment, not any of the good out of them.”[2] Can we look at the stars sparkling in the night sky and say we know all about them? Can we witness the miracle of birth and be bored because it’s happened before? The Word of God is as profound and deep and mysterious and rich as anything in the cosmos, and more so.

The God Image

True growth as a person is to be found in the deepening of one’s godly character. Taking on the characteristics of God’s character can be done only by imitation. True growth is moving Godward in every respect humanly possible. It requires that we first meditate on what God is like so that we can become likes him. This is a process of reflection upon what we have read and know of God. The knowledge of God is the most precious body of knowledge attainable; it can be discovered only by a communion of prayer and meditation. The idea of God may be old to us, but coming to really know him can be as new and fresh as an early morning walk under a pink sunrise sky.

The challenge of discovering more and more about God and converting that knowledge into one’s character is the highest human enterprise. It is also our calling. Paul exulted, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!”[3]

Yahweh himself declares that the only cause for human boasting is not what men boast about – human smarts, money, power and strength –

“But let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercise kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight.”[4]

Wise men and woman have observed that suffering produces the deepest and most profound growth. We know the apostle says Jesus learned through suffering and from personal experiences and we must agree that suffering tests us. But spiritual growth from suffering is not an automatic result. For many the outcome is bitterness, despair, hatred, or unbelief. For us to learn and grow from suffering means we must come to grips with reality and return to those basic questions I listed in paragraph five—“The Big Whos, Whats, Whys, and Hows of life.” If we are to be perfected and refined through the fires of suffering we must continually meditate upon the state of our life, coram Deo.

That ancient character Job knew God better than any man on earth. He was upright, wise, resisted evil and feared God. He was unique and righteous above all others. It is difficult to imagine a finer man or role model. And God was very pleased with Job. Nevertheless great calamity came upon him and his entire family. He lost everything and suffered beyond belief. His wife and friends either accused him of bringing all this upon himself because of some hidden sins, or because God had turned evil toward him. It could have been tempting to agree with these well-meaning but wrong-headed counselors, but instead Job did some serious meditating, coram Deo. After his wife advised him to “Curse God and die,” he replied: “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”[5] Where did Job get such wise spiritual thinking if it didn’t come from his meditations on God.

The book of Job is a maze of meditative journeys tackling the mysteries and contradictions of life. Job endured his time of suffering and came out the other end a wiser more mature man of God. His knowledge of God deepened through his terrible experience so much so he could exclaim, “My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you.”[6] This new knowledge changed his life forever—for the better. The rest of his days he could rest in peace.

The Sabbath, a Call to Meditate?

Knowing the benefits of meditation, why would any sane person avoid creating the quiet time to do it? The common excuse we offer ourselves (as we usually don’t discuss this topic with others) is: I can’t find the time. Meditation is a good idea, but let’s be practical, when do I fit it in?

I could suggest whacking out a few hours a week of TV watching, replacing them with a private time of reflective thought before God. I could suggest parking your novel for an hour and instead using the time for peaceful pondering and prayer. Do I sound like a scold? Then come up with your own suggestions as I’m sure you can find the time if you seriously value its benefits.

It seems that God anticipated mankind would have time problems for putting first things first. The Sabbath commandment is about the use of time. Being made in God’s image implies we will be busy, creative creatures--so busy in fact, that we leave no time to consider God’s Way and Plan for our lives. If only we could have God’s focus for our energies.

The Sabbath was given to us to be a refreshing oasis in time for our physical, mental and spiritual health. Curiously, the Sabbath, this commandment on use of time, is the only command of the ten that specifically calls for reflection/meditation. “Remember the Sabbath…for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth….”[7] We are asked to remember history, the history of God’s mighty works, to reflect upon them and to include their principles in our lives. Israel was advised to pause from the commerce of life and contemplate the ways of the One who made everything. Remembering, to derive meaning from events, is what meditation is.

In Deuteronomy’s version of the fourth commandment another mighty act of God is in view. Here the history lesson to reflect upon is God’s great power to free people from slavery.[8] Is this power of God relevant today? That’s something to meditate upon. Clearly, the Sabbath commandment is a call to rest and to seriously reflect upon God and his marvelous deeds--past, present, and future.

If the Sabbath was important to sheepherders living in tents under a starry canopy, how much more for us in our fast-paced world of cars, planes, plastic, brick and steel. A great gift of the Sabbath is its weekly provision of time to meditate in peace and quiet. On this day of rest the claim of not having time for spiritual meditation is plainly fraudulent.

Face Time

Becoming a mature, whole and spiritual person requires a high degree of honesty. It requires you to be honest with God, yourself, and your world. Up close and personal is what focused meditation is. You are face to face with yourself. You can review your week, your year. You can take an honest audit of your character, strengths and weaknesses. You can be private with the truth about your relationship with your mate, your children, your friends. You can ponder ways to become more like God wants you to be. You can muse on ways to improve.

You can tackle the big questions we presented in paragraph five. You can reflect on world affairs and the culture, asking God’s help to see it as he sees it. You can ruminate on how you’ve gradually become accustomed to seeing degeneracy in every direction when years ago you were vexed at its appearance. There is so much to think about, coram Deo.

Meditate on what you can do to bring fun and laughter back into your home. Are you recapturing the joy of life? What might be fun and wholesome family activities instead of watching TV? What can you do to break the routine and bring more joy into family life? When was the last time you and your mate played a game of cards together, took the family bowling, went hiking in the woods, visited a museum, built a family project, or sang songs around a bonfire?

Take time to ponder that life moves by quickly, your children will soon be grown, your parents will die, and you are on the glide slope toward your own end. Let such meditation motivate you to put all you have into living a holy, pure, and joyful life everyday! – a life that will bless all those around you.

In your private time you can consider the lily, the sparrow, the Milky Way galaxy of a hundred billion suns and measureless mysteries. You can analyze the needs of family and church. You can revisit your unsolved questions and cogitate on them afresh. You can let your mind dream of the better world coming. You can fantasize on what the world will be like with Christ ruling from Jerusalem.

Above All, God

The most important focus of our meditation is, of course, God himself--and his glorified son, Jesus Christ. These Holy Ones are our hope and life. Coming to know God and becoming like him is our ultimate goal. Christ became the perfect image of his father and we are called to follow his footsteps. Jesus said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”[9] The human perfection Christ describes isn’t a total absence of sin, but a Christian’s life direction and progress in moving Godward. Taking on the divine nature is a process of growth that I don’t believe is possible without prayerful meditation and doting about God.

God gives us great freedom and liberty as we live before him. He wants to be part of our daily walk. He asks us to seek him with all our heart, mind and strength. He promises us an eternity of rest and peace in his everlasting kingdom. Do we have precious things to think deeply upon? Precious beyond measure! .

One doesn’t need to walk through a grave yard to find a peaceful environment to meditate on God and life. You have a dozen places within your daily circuit where you can privately rest in His peace. The place is the easy part, the difficulty is making the decision to pause and do it. I promise that your life will be immeasurably enriched by the minutes and hours you spend in quiet meditation.