"Most of us want to follow Jesus' bidding to take up our cross (Matthew 16:24). And we long to renew our minds as Paul advised (Romans 12:2). But how do we reject our selfishness, take up our burdens, refuse worldly values, and renew our love, becoming more like Jesus?

For the first 15 centuries of Christianity, it was through the spiritual discipline of biblical contemplation. The natural by-product of communal worship and listening to God's Word, contemplation was an intense reflection on Scripture."