Meditation as the Craft of Thought

Deirdra Good (NT prof. at General Theological Seminary in NYC) points out this interesting book on her blog:

This astonishing book was the subject of one of our workshops: Mary Carruthers, The Craft of Thought. Meditation, Rhetoric, and the Making of Images, 400-1200. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Pp. 399. ISBN 0-521-58232-6. $59.95....

For medieval monastic culture, meditation, and not rational argument, is the path to proper remembrance. And for monks as for artisans, the notion of "craft" implies the proper use of the body as well as a craftiness of mind. So, this is a book about meditation as a "craft" that presupposes the mastery of all of the mind's "tools" that are appropriate to the soul's own special vocation, which is to employ proper books, "places" and buildings, and images (all of which involve as well the participation of a pure and well trained body) in the quest to know God. (source)

So much of the work of Christian spirituality is about proper remembrance--it makes sense to see meditation as the craft that makes this possible. I'm struck that we don't teach this nearly enough in church on Sundays. I mean, meditation is often one of the next things Christians are exposed to in their developing spiritual lives once they look beyond Sundays, but we don't look at it much on Sundays. Sometimes we'll have silence in liturgy or sing in a contemplative manner. But that isn't really teaching meditation, per se.

Once I gave a children's sermon at SMM in which I taught them about meditation and even did a five minute sit with them. Perhaps I should do something similar at COTM...

-t