Just because you think something doesn’t mean it’s true, or even particularly important.

If you’ve been thinking negative thoughts for long enough, you have probably come to believe in and identify with them.

You are not your thoughts; you are the thinker of the thoughts.

You should always try to meditate in a place where you will be safe and as undisturbed as possible, but keep in mind that in any meditation practice, a crucial component is to allow—even welcome—changes to the outside environment without interrupting the meditation. Simply observe, experience, and allow things to be as they are.

By holding an open-focus awareness, you create a larger mental “container” for your thoughts to pass through.

The mental perspective to hold here is that you accept and allow the dog to bark and the car to drive by, without entertaining the desire for things to be any different than they are.

We can compare our attention to light: If we focus our concentration on something, we might say that we are “shining a spotlight” on it. When we practice open awareness, rather than shining a spotlight on one particular thing, we might say that we allow our awareness to “shine” in all directions around us, like the glow of a candle flame.

Prayer is the method by which we set the intention in Christian meditation. We give the meditation to the Holy Spirit and welcome the Spirit's presence and guidance.

The goal of Meditations on Christ is to deepen our relationship with the Spirit of Jesus Christ and to greater embody His likeness.