Nearly 30 years ago, Dr...
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Nearly 30 years ago, Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard Medical School published a bestseller called The Relaxation Response (Avon, 1975). In that book, he demonstrated -- to the shock and horror of many in the medical community -- that daily meditation can bring about beneficial physiological effects, such as lowering patients' blood pressure and preventing disease. The book kicked off the movement now known as "Mind-Body Medicine." Through it, physicians have become more appreciative of how the life of the spirit influences physical health.
In Benson's work, it doesn't really matter what you're meditating about, just so you sit silently and repeat a mantra-like word to yourself over and over. You could repeat the "sinner's prayer" ("Lord Jesus, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner"); or you could just as well intone the Hindu monosyllable, "Om." (For that matter, fans of sports footwear could just as well repeat the Nike slogan: "Just do it.") The physiological benefits seem to be the same for any kind of focused meditation.
All this is a good thing, medically speaking, but it's clearly not the full extent of the biblical concept of "abiding." Dr. Benson is quite right in saying that for stressed-out people, a little intentional relaxation can work wonders. Yet it's not enough for us, spiritually speaking, to simply and aimlessly abide, in no place in particular.
Jesus says, "Abide in me." He is the way, the truth, and the life. But more than that, he promises that the Holy Spirit, the advocate, will abide in us. It does matter, spiritually -- not just physiologically -- in whom we put our trust.
In Benson's work, it doesn't really matter what you're meditating about, just so you sit silently and repeat a mantra-like word to yourself over and over. You could repeat the "sinner's prayer" ("Lord Jesus, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner"); or you could just as well intone the Hindu monosyllable, "Om." (For that matter, fans of sports footwear could just as well repeat the Nike slogan: "Just do it.") The physiological benefits seem to be the same for any kind of focused meditation.
All this is a good thing, medically speaking, but it's clearly not the full extent of the biblical concept of "abiding." Dr. Benson is quite right in saying that for stressed-out people, a little intentional relaxation can work wonders. Yet it's not enough for us, spiritually speaking, to simply and aimlessly abide, in no place in particular.
Jesus says, "Abide in me." He is the way, the truth, and the life. But more than that, he promises that the Holy Spirit, the advocate, will abide in us. It does matter, spiritually -- not just physiologically -- in whom we put our trust.
