Mindfulness

[zippy2006]

But the Bible repeatedly urges us to fix our attention upon the future, upon the eternity to come, and to live now in the light of that future. Here are some good examples:

The mindfulness crowd is concerned to reduce stress and anxiety caused by excessive worry about the future. Although this has now become a bit of a worldly platitude, it is also found in Christian scripture:

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well." (Matthew 6:25-33)​

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Jesus also taught us that the Kingdom of God is within, or among you.

If you are alive it is because God's spirit is within you, for without God, you would not exist

 

[aiki]

The mindfulness crowd is concerned to reduce stress and anxiety caused by excessive worry about the future. Although this has now become a bit of a worldly platitude, it is also found in Christian scripture:

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well." (Matthew 6:25-33)

??? I don't see any recommendation of meditative mindfulness in this passage... I do, though, read in the Bible that in Christ, in right-relationship with him, there is peace, and joy, and rest. I've already offered the most familiar instance of this truth found in Matthew 11:28-30.

 

[Tigger45]

I think some might 'Miss the forest through all the trees' by living by the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law.

Take for instance its a beautiful day so you decided to take a hike so you could be alone and have a more intimate time of prayer with God. Well the hike would represent 'mindfulness practice'. You're out in nature, feeling the cool breeze yet the warm sun shines on your face. Maybe the sound of a running creek, birds chirping, a rabbit ducks out of sight and squires running around doing their business. Your mind, soul and spirit tend to slow down, relax and enjoy the moment of God's creation. That's a metaphor for mindfulness meditation. We live in a fallen world which brings about a lot of hustle and bustle but God never intended it to be that way and just like sleep is to the body we need mental self care too.

 

[zippy2006]

??? I don't see any recommendation of meditative mindfulness in this passage... I do, though, read in the Bible that in Christ, in right-relationship with him, there is peace, and joy, and rest. I've already offered the most familiar instance of this truth found in Matthew 11:28-30.

You claimed that "The Bible repeatedly urges us to fix our attention upon the future..."

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Take for instance its a beautiful day so you decided to take a hike so you could be alone and have a more intimate time of prayer with God. Well the hike would represent 'mindfulness practice'. You're out in nature, feeling the cool breeze yet the warm sun shines on your face. Maybe the sound of a running creek, birds chirping, a rabbit ducks out of sight and squires running around doing their business. Your mind, soul and spirit tend to slow down, relax and enjoy the moment of God's creation. That's a metaphor for mindfulness meditation.

Yes, the world itself is not God. But through it we can come to a recognition, appreciation and peace because it is God's creation and god uses it for our well being.

Sleep also is a natural process. We let go. We go deeply into ourselves. Nothing wrong with that. it is restful and we need it. Mindfulness is similar, really a natural process of relaxation.

 

[aiki]

You claimed that "The Bible repeatedly urges us to fix our attention upon the future..."

It is not a mere claim but the fact of the matter, as one can see by simply studying Scripture.

Christ as our Creator is our Beginning, as our Life (particularly spiritually) he is our Present, and as our Judge and eternal King, He is our Future. This is, in part, what is meant by Christ being the "Alpha and Omega."

Are you thinking that Jesus's remark about considering the lilies of the field is grounds in support of mindfulness meditation? That seems rather a stretch, if it is what you're thinking.

I did also say that fixing our eyes upon eternity to come - as we are commanded in Scripture to do - helps properly orient us in how to live in the present.

Maybe, though, you were thinking of the "don't be anxious" comments Jesus made in the passage you offered. Are you thinking they counter the verses I offered from both Christ and the apostle Paul about keeping one's eyes on eternity? Christ's words in Matthew 6 which you quoted appear to me to be about worry, not about confining one's attention to the present moment.

 

[RDKirk]

The mindfulness crowd is concerned to reduce stress and anxiety caused by excessive worry about the future. Although this has now become a bit of a worldly platitude, it is also found in Christian scripture:

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well." (Matthew 6:25-33)​

That seems to go along with what I stated earlier about prayers of praise rather than prayers of petition.

But either way, if a Christian gets off his knees in the same agitated state of mind in which he dropped to his knees, he did it wrong.

 

[RDKirk]

It is not a mere claim but the fact of the matter, as one can see by simply studying Scripture.

Christ as our Creator is our Beginning, as our Life (particularly spiritually) he is our Present, and as our Judge and eternal King, He is our Future. This is, in part, what is meant by Christ being the "Alpha and Omega."

Are you thinking that Jesus's remark about considering the lilies of the field is grounds in support of mindfulness meditation? That seems rather a stretch, if it is what you're thinking.

I did also say that fixing our eyes upon eternity to come - as we are commanded in Scripture to do - helps properly orient us in how to live in the present.

Maybe, though, you were thinking of the "don't be anxious" comments Jesus made in the passage you offered. Are you thinking they counter the verses I offered from both Christ and the apostle Paul about keeping one's eyes on eternity? Christ's words in Matthew 6 which you quoted appear to me to be about worry, not about confining one's attention to the present moment.

Well, eternity is not just "the future." Eternity is also "the now."

The thing is, we don't know what has not yet been done. We do know what Jesus has done, and that is also our present.

 

[aiki]

Well, eternity is not just "the future." Eternity is also "the now."

Which is why I stipulated "eternity to come."

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Yes, the world itself is not God. But through it we can come to a recognition, appreciation and peace because it is God's creation and god uses it for our well being.

Sleep also is a natural process. We let go. We go deeply into ourselves. Nothing wrong with that. it is restful and we need it. Mindfulness is similar, really a natural process of relaxation.

It's like St Francis of Assisi saw God in everyone and everything.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

It's like St Francis of Assisi saw God in everyone and everything.

All brothers and sisters are we.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

It is not a mere claim but the fact of the matter, as one can see by simply studying Scripture.

Christ as our Creator is our Beginning, as our Life (particularly spiritually) he is our Present, and as our Judge and eternal King, He is our Future. This is, in part, what is meant by Christ being the "Alpha and Omega."

Are you thinking that Jesus's remark about considering the lilies of the field is grounds in support of mindfulness meditation? That seems rather a stretch, if it is what you're thinking.

I did also say that fixing our eyes upon eternity to come - as we are commanded in Scripture to do - helps properly orient us in how to live in the present.

Maybe, though, you were thinking of the "don't be anxious" comments Jesus made in the passage you offered. Are you thinking they counter the verses I offered from both Christ and the apostle Paul about keeping one's eyes on eternity? Christ's words in Matthew 6 which you quoted appear to me to be about worry, not about confining one's attention to the present moment.

Christ is our future, but what the details of that future will be like we don't know.

All we know is the present. If you start to create images of that future, you're creating your own
creation and not what it will actually be like.

The same about God. People who pray and while praying have a video playing in the mind that looks like Jesus of Nazareth, are allowing an image of Christ that isn't real, but that of the producers of the movie.

Instead, as the author of The Cloud of Unknowing says, place all images of God below the cloud of unknowing and let God reveal Himself as He is, not how we want Him to be.

God is reality, not an abstract thought of what we create.

 

[RDKirk]

Which is why I stipulated "eternity to come."

Eternity is not "to come." By definition, time is not a characteristic of eternity.

 

[aiki]

All we know is the present. If you start to create images of that future, you're creating your own
creation and not what it will actually be like.

??? Have you not read your Bible? It tells us something of the eternity yet to come - certainly enough to look forward to it and to live in the present investing in that eternity, the Center of which is Christ, our Saviour.

In any case, I don't recall ever suggesting we manufacture our own peculiar fantasies about the eternity to come.

The same about God. People who pray and while praying have a video playing in the mind that looks like Jesus of Nazareth, are allowing an image of Christ that isn't real, but that of the producers of the movie.

Or, alternatively, a person could consider Christ as he is revealed in Scripture, which is what I do and recommend. At least, in this approach, one is not as prone to the vain imaginings you describe.

Instead, as the author of The Cloud of Unknowing says, place all images of God below the cloud of unknowing and let God reveal Himself as He is, not how we want Him to be.

Or, again, one could just confine oneself to the special revelation of Scripture of God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

God is reality, not an abstract thought of what we create.

Yup.

 

[aiki]

Eternity is not "to come." By definition, time is not a characteristic of eternity.

If there is a progression of discrete events in heaven, which the Bible clearly describes, then time does indeed exist in eternity. In fact, it seems to me "eternity" loses all meaning if it is removed from the context of time.

 

[RDKirk]

If there is a progression of discrete events in heaven, which the Bible clearly describes, then time does indeed exist in eternity. In fact, it seems to me "eternity" loses all meaning if it is removed from the context of time.

Heaven is not, however, eternal. God is eternal. Heaven had a point of creation, a point before which it was not.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

??? Have you not read your Bible? It tells us something of the eternity yet to come - certainly enough to look forward to it and to live in the present investing in that eternity, the Center of which is Christ, our Saviour.

It tells in human understanding what Heaven will be like. However, being none of the authors were ever there, they wouldn't know what it will be like for us in our immortal state.

Or, alternatively, a person could consider Christ as he is revealed in Scripture, which is what I do and recommend. At least, in this approach, one is not as prone to the vain imaginings you describe.

Christ revealed himself as a mortal being. After the Resurrections, he revealed himself in
his glorified state, whatever that means. He appeared inside locked rooms. A resuscitated
body can not do that, but a glorified one as Christ was, can.

Or, again, one could just confine oneself to the special revelation of Scripture of God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

We have not had a beatific vision of the God, the Holy Trinity. We don't know what he actually looks like.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Maybe what I am doing is not even "Mindfulness".

I start with a prayer and then just follow the breathing. I usually pick a short pious invocation to go along with the breath. I also become aware of my body and send relaxing intention. I sit and call out to God silently within my mind. This usually helps me focus so that other thoughts begin to subside. Then moments of interior silence, just listening, begin to increase. It is then that I feel attentive to The Most High. Those moments of inner silence/stillness alternate with thoughts and images that present themselves. No problem, I just return to an invocation, breath and relaxation. Soon the stillness returns. This goes on for about half an hour.

So it is a way I relate to God who is beyond imagination and intellectual concepts. I am open to God as God wants to be with me. This has been my prayer for about 45 years now.

It is interesting you are discussing time because my perception of time changes.

 

[aiki]

Heaven is not, however, eternal. God is eternal. Heaven had a point of creation, a point before which it was not.

The "heavenly hereafter" I look forward to as a Christian is eternal, but not infinite as God is, which is to say, having no beginning but always existing as a necessity of His own being.