OBSTACLES TO MEDITATION

“Meditation being a mental operation, is rendered difficult by the inconstancy and drifting of imagination. Even the saints complain of this :’My thoughts are dissipated, tormenting my heart.'(Job xvii.2) This arises from various causes. It may come from the devil, or from our unstable fancy of from unmortified affections, or from worldly cares, or from remissness and sloth, or from want of a serious effort to fix the attention. To deal first with these last two, the subject of meditation should be clearly set before the mind, with its causes, effects, and circumstances. Let us take an instance the Incarnation. We first put distinctly before ourselves the great fact, as taught by faith. Then we consider the motive, namely the mercy of the good God, there being no merit on the part of man; next the end, to which the manifestation of mercy in the restoration of the human race; after that result, our justification, resurrection, and glorification, not forgetting the appalling misery we thereby escape; lastly, the circumstances of time, place, and manner under which the soon of God took flesh. We dwell on each consideration so long as we find it profitable.”       – Rev. C. W. Barraud, C.J.