due to...
the lost art of reading it at all.
meditation is very misunderstood. Even the article puts all eastern practice under, “empty the mind”... not so. Even much eastern meditation teaches a focal point.
But, I understand through experience that most western christians find meditation to be some scary new age concept. Ignorant to say the least. Even heard others say you could get a demon from meditation....maybe so, if you wanted one.
contemplate, roll over in the mind, discerning, rightly dividing...all of which takes some form of meditating on scripture.
The whole “New Age” canard is also used against fasting.
Matthew 6 uses the same language in the same context to speak of praying, tithing, and fasting.
Praying? Check. (We want you thinking about God about us.)
Tithing? Check. (We want you sacrificing for God and us.)
Fasting? Uh-uh. Works righteousness! New Age heresy!
Jesus Christ fasted. That is all I need to know.
(I once asked a pastor to preach a sermon on fasting, since I had never in my life heard one - whereas I had heard many on praying and tithing. He flatly refused.)
It is since I first started fasting for purely spiritual reasons that I learned of the many potential health benefits to be gained from fasting. (However, in today’s toxic world, with unhealthy bodies, it needs to be done cautiously. Since no Christian books teach it adequately, one needs to learn from secular books on fasting for health purposes.)