The actor, Jared Leto, recently emerged from a silent meditation camp only to learn that COVID-19 had become a global pandemic. After close to two weeks in a desert retreat, it was a shock for him to learn what had happened while he had been unplugged. With the constant barrage of troubling news reports and alarming developments, escaping to a desert hideaway may sound tempting. Meditation sounds like it may help deal with the uneasiness that many people are feeling. But does the Bible say anything about meditation? Is meditation Christian? And, if so, is it any different than Hindu and Buddhist forms of meditation?
I don’t think enough about how I think. Throughout the day I carry on dozens of conversations in my head and entertain a host of passing thoughts that range from dull to dangerous. Proverbs 4:23 compares the heart to the headwaters of a river or the groundwater of a spring: Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. The proverb has always been vivid to me probably because I grew up hearing environmental lessons about how factory pollution was causing acid rain and killing our planet. So I can picture a clean, pure spring being poisoned at its source and affecting everything that flows from it. It’s a clear warning to guard your heart but leaves me unclear about how to actually do it.
