We all must take the time to be silent and to contemplate.  I always begin my prayer in silence, for it is in the silence of the heart that God speaks.
                                                        -- Mother Teresa

hile riding an exercycle at the gym, I found myself in a gentle rhythm and my mind began drifting.  It was a comfortable experience I had felt often.  While surrounded with countless others in the gym, filled with the varied sounds of barbells hitting metal, energetic music wafting through, treadmills and exercycles pumping endlessly, and scattered conversation, I found myself in this quiet.

"I've been waiting for you," came a familiar voice.  It almost seemed as though it came from the PA system, but no one else seemed to notice.

"Who was that," I silently thought a little irritated that my quiet had been broken.

"It's me, Sam," came the reply.

"Sam!"  I yelled out with joy but was immediately sorry, because of the many stares from others around me.  Sam made himself known to me as my guardian angel, and while I'm sure he's around more than I realize, he's occasionally taken the time to talk directly with me, providing inspiration and guidance.

"You don't need to speak out loud" Sam said, "I can hear you."

"Thanks," I thought, my inner voice dripping with sarcasm.  "But it really is good to hear from you.  Where are you."

"You won't see me today,  but we can talk" he said.  "Your meditation seems to be going very well."

"My meditation?  I'm not meditating, I'm exercising."

"You may be exercising, my friend, but you're meditating also.  You're surrounded with a din of activity, but you've found a place of quiet within you.  How did you do that?"

"I guess I don't know."  I silently replied.  "I thought it was just natural."

  "Good guess,"  Sam replied.  "Meditation is much more natural than you can imagine.  There is so much you need to do to maintain health.  You need to eat for nourishment and sleep to renew your energy.  If you don't sleep, your body will take micro naps.  If you don't eat, your body will take its nourishment from fat stores in your body.  Likewise, if you don't meditate, your spirit will find ways to reach these quiet places.

"That sounds a little hard to believe" I replied.

"Think of your mind like an ocean," Sam said.  "On the surface, it's turmoil and chaos, swells and waves battered by the wind.  Ten to twenty feet under, the chaos is almost lost to the calm, but there are still occasional crashes of the waves on the surface vying for your attention, just as your random thoughts intrude into your quiet.  Hundreds of feet below, the turmoil of the surface is lost to a simple, but powerful, natural current. 

"Think about it," Sam continued.  "How many times have you gotten in your car to go somewhere, and then suddenly found yourself  there, not remembering the journey?  Your spirit can't survive constantly on the surface amidst the turmoil and chaos so it periodically escapes the turmoil and chaos whether you want to or not."

"That doesn't sound like a very good way to meditate" I replied.

"You are so right.  Taking micro naps to make up for lost sleep isn't a very good way to get sleep.  Consuming the fat stores in your body, isn't a very good way to get nourishment and entering an altered state of consciousness while driving isn't a very good way to meditate.  And it also makes me, your guardian angel, work more overtime than I care for."

"Then what is a good way to meditate?" I wondered.

"The best way, is the way that works with your understanding and involvement.  Your spirit can't take you to the depths of your being without your involvement so be aware of what you're doing.  There are countless teachers, books and audio tapes that can teach you specific techniques and methods if you want, but you don't have to pursue them to begin meditating today.  Here's a simple method that you can try while doing just about anything that isn't taxing your brain - sitting quietly, washing dishes, jogging, walking - anything.  The choice is yours.

"Take a deep breath in, while silently saying 'Thy will,' and exhale while silently saying 'be done.'  Keep repeating this until you find the quiet."

"That's it?" I asked incredulously.  "Don't I have to sit in the Lotus position, or find a guru to teach me, or find a quiet mountain or peaceful waterfall? 

"No, none of that is necessary.  Seek them if you want, but none of those things are necessary to start." Sam replied.  "As with anything you want to make a habit, do it every day for 30 days and it will be.  Change the words between sessions if you like, but do it for at least five minutes a day, every day, for 30 days.  You'll find God is waiting for you in the quiet."

The PA system filled with static, and I realized Sam was gone.  I looked at the timer on the exercycle and realized I had ridden for over 15 minutes.  For the next five minutes, I gave Sam's method a try.  I didn't see thunderbolts, or the face of God, but I did feel peaceful. 

For me, this five minutes has grown to 10 minutes, and sometimes twice a day.  My skill at purposeful meditating is admittedly nothing more than elementary, but it brings me closer to God with a wonderful side effect of more peace and joy in my day-to-day life.  If these sound like worthwhile goals to you, meditation is worth the effort.

                                                    -- Darril R.Gibson