by Charley Wingate

In March 1986, on one of the earliest digital forums for religious discussion, a graduate student at the University of Maryland responded to a question about meditation in the Christian tradition. What followed was a compact introduction to a living practice: the medieval contemplative writers, the Orthodox Jesus Prayer, and the idea that a properly ornamented church is itself a form of meditation. Charley Wingate's post remains one of the earliest online discussions of Christian contemplative practice.

Meditation (and similar "spiritual exercises") have a long history in the church. Two classic medieval treatises are The Mind's Road to God by Bonaventura and The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis. There are others besides these. I've found Bonaventura to be very helpful, but he is hard to find in comparison to Thomas, who is ubiquitous.

In Eastern practice there are a number of meditations. The use of the Kyrie and of the prayer

"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

as repetitive chants is well-known (the first is typically part of liturgy). One distinct difference from Far Eastern practice, however, is that the content of the phrases is very important. One is supposed to pay attention to it, even if only peripherally. An important part of its purpose is to orient oneself into the proper state of mind, directed fully towards prayer; thus, one must put intent into the phrases. I've used the second (which is commonly referred to as the "Jesus Prayer") and it seems to be helpful; I also use liturgical texts to make myself receptive to prayer.

There's an interesting theory of church decoration which holds that a church should be highly ornamented with appropriate religious images and texts. The idea behind it is that if the eye wanders, it will light upon something which will direct it back to God. Even though I am hopelessly in favor of more ornament, I'm not sure I'm convinced; but it has at its root the same notion of directing one's mind so as to be receptive to prayer.

Colophon

Written by Charley Wingate, Department of Computer Science, University of Maryland, College Park. Posted to net.religion.christian, March 15, 1986, in response to a thread on Christian meditation practice. The Jesus Prayer he describes — sometimes called the Prayer of the Heart — is central to the Hesychast tradition and was popularized in the West by The Way of a Pilgrim (anonymous, 19th-century Russian).

Preserved from the UTZOO Usenet Archive (news040f1.tgz, batch b60) for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Original Message-ID: [email protected].

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