Crack the Shell, Chew the Kernel - Part 2
Have you ever eaten a sunflower kernel from inside its shell?
Like a chipmunk, I’ll put a handful of sunflower seeds inside my cheek occasionally…sometimes while sitting on the front porch; more often in the car for an extended amount of time. One at a time, I’ll isolate a seed to crack it open. (This part’s been fun teaching the girls how to properly eat a sunflower seed! It gets a little messy in a car but works great on the porch). Once open, I’ll spit the broken shell out and chew the kernel. It’s the kernel that is the best part. It also is the most difficult part to get and is the most time-consuming. But it is worth it. If I were to put the seeds inside my mouth without cracking the shell and enjoying the seed, I’d be missing out on the best part. I’d merely be intaking the salt solution they’re cooked in and miss out on the flavor and nutritional value of the seed. I’d be enjoying the sunflower seed, yes, but it’d be quite limited. To really enjoy the fullness of the sunflower’s fruits, you’ve got to get past the shell.
And that’s what meditation is: meditation is cracking the shell and chewing the kernel. It is the practice of getting beyond surface level and reaching deeper levels of understanding and meaning. Memorizing, discussing, and praying with the same verse(s) for the entire month has been a surprising blessing for our household. Having the monthly verse(s) visible leads us to discussing them regularly which has led us to meditating over God’s word regularly, together…really allowing us to go beyond mere memorization and into meditating on the fullness of what each set of verses offers.
As J.I. Packer wrote over fifty years ago, “meditation is a lost art today”. If someone does practice meditating, it seems as if it is solely individualized, however. It doesn’t only have to be a discipline done alone. Individual meditation is important in a personal relationship with Jesus, don’t get me wrong. It just does not have to only be an individual matter. Communal meditation has been one of the greatest unanticipated blessings of chalktalX (the Tablet and the Verse+Content Set). Memorizing the verse, together; discussing the verse, together; using the verse to pray, together; considering the key truths from the verse, together…leads our household into sweet communion with the Lord throughout each month, together.
It takes time and intentional effort to keep the communal meditation occurring regularly. Sometimes, the conversations are quite brief and seemingly distracted with various interruptions. Sometimes, the conversations carry along without much guidance. For us, we have three younger kids in the home ranging from 13 to 8 years old. Time at the breakfast or dinner table are never consistently the same. Either way, there’s time at the table as a household, and I believe there’s immense value in that, even if we do not see its benefits at the moment. Those moments at the table chewing on God’s word, together, over the course of a month compound into transformative moments for each adult and child.
For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things! To Him be the glory forever! (Rom. 11:36).
Written by Warren M. Grimm