A Tree By a Stream: Unlock the secrets of active meditation

by Edmond Smith

Unlock the secrets of active meditation In a world which expects instant gratification and immediate success, spiritual meditation looks like hard work. Edmond Smith does not deny this, but still calls us back to this much-neglected discipline. We are given an insight into the lives of various figures in history who left an indelible mark on the church of their time and on subsequent generations. Each emphasised the need for serious contemplation of Scripture and we see how this enriched their lives and benefited the church as whole. We are challenged to follow their footsteps and be like the tree planted by the streams of living water, the word of God, drawing continually on its life and consequently bearing much fruit.

192 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1969

Reviews

[Anne Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A finely focused introduction to the stories of many well-known Christians, mainly of the Reformed tradition, emphasising their insights into the value of meditation.

I particularly appreciated this thought in the chapter on Robert Murray M'Cheyne: Do not many of us play down the importance of the Old Testament and think we could survive on the New Testament alone if somehow the Old Testament suddenly disappeared and we had lost our opportunity to read it? Is there not still some vestiges of the teaching of Marcion in our midst? Perhaps one of the difficulties arises from the names we have given to the two major parts of the Bible - the Old and New Testaments, we call them. Perhaps Adolph Saphir, a discerning Christian Jew who became a Presbyterian minister in Scotland, and later a missioner to his own people as well as to Gentiles in Europe, had it right when he claimed we ought to rename the two parts and call them The Book of Israel and the Book of the Church. He would never have professed such names were watertight in terms of definition, but he saw them as a marked improvement on the present names, names that cause believers and others to dismiss the Old Testament because it is reckoned as 'old' and therefore inferior in terms of inspiration.

In the chapter on John Newton, I was impacted by the thought regarding Christian experience that it is analogous to growing corn: first the blade, then the ear, then the corn in full. First desire, then conflict, then contemplation.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot recommend this book enough. The first chapter alone is pure gold. And all the examples of meditation throughout the book are quite wonderful to study. This book should be required reading for anyone interested in the Christian practice of meditation.