...none who wait for you shall be put to shame...
  - Psalm 25.3

indithim – ‘meditation’
  - Cormac, Glossary, Irish, 10th century

We recall that Cormac, a 10^th century Irish bishop/king, collected Gaelic words that were going out of use in his day because he thought they were important to preserve. One of those words referred to the discipline of meditation.

You know the great period of Celtic Christianity was coming to its end when one of its keen observers noted that meditation, as a discipline, was falling into disuse. In their heyday, Celtic Christian leaders put a lot of stock in meditating on Scripture, creation, and their vision of the unseen realm. Doubtless such meditation played a significant role in sustaining their movement for nearly four centuries.

These are not days necessarily friendly to the discipline of meditation – of waiting on the Lord in silence. We are so busy and are bombarded by so much information and so many distractions, that finding space and time for indithim escapes most of us.

Meditation requires three things: time (which you must set and keep, because it doesn’t just happen); focus (something on which to concentrate thoughts and affections, like the Lord in His exalted glory, or the splendor of His heavenly court); and strength. You need strength to keep at the work of meditation, to fight off distractions and continue believing that your meditation will yield an acute awareness of divine presence – an encounter with the glory of God – if only you keep at it in prayerful contemplation and patient waiting.

Waiting. Yes, that’s the key to meditation. We are not good waiters. We want what we want now, because, frankly, we have too many other things to do to wait for God to meet us in His way and time.

But isn’t the real problem that we value more the things we have to do than the experience of meeting with God in His glory?

Waiting on the Lord is a good way to describe meditation. Were he compiling his glossary today, Cormac would probably define indithim as “waiting on the Lord.” Then he would duly record that meditation was passing out of use once again. And this in spite of the fact that even secular science agrees that meditation is very good for us, as I explained in a recent installment of The Week.

Rich blessings of divine presence and favor await us in meditation, as we wait in silence on the Lord. And if we really believe this, and really want to meet God in His glory, then we will make the time, gather the focus, and muster the strength – to wait.

Psalm 25.3-5 (Festal Song: “Revive Thy Work, O Lord”)
All they who wait on You shall never come to shame;
Yet they to shame shall come who stand against Your holy Name.

Make me to know Your ways, teach me Your paths, O Lord!
My Savior, all day long I wait and seek You in Your Word.

I'm not good at waiting, Lord; but I long to know You in Your glory. Teach me to wait.

The Week at The Fellowship
In our In the Gates column this week I address the question, “Why is the Law of God so harsh?” Our Scriptorium column continues looking at the poem, “Altus Prosator”, by Colum Cille, as an example of how theological truth lends itself to poetic proclamation. If you’d like some help in taking up the discipline of indithim, check out our online bookstore. John Nunnikhoven’s books on praying the psalms would be an excellent place to begin, as would my Be Thou My Vision or The Hidden Life. Visit the website because there’s more to read, view, or download to help you in your walk with the Lord. As ever, we appreciate your prayers and gifts to the ministry. To send an end-of-the-year gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, use the donate button here or at the website, or send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Dr., Essex Junction, VT 05452. May our Lord bless you and yours richly during this glorious Advent season.

T. M. Moore, Principal
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