Scott Owens is a big man with a bigger heart. Scott in his heyday could hit a softball a mile, but near his 50th birthday, he suffered a heart attack while driving at work. After nine days on a ventilator he opened his eyes and with his wife Cathy standing on one side of his hospital bed and me on the other, I asked, “Scott can you blink your eyes as a sign you hear us.” As he opened and... Read more
Attending the University of Arkansas, there was an all you can eat Tuesday night pizza buffet. It was nearly forty years ago, but I remember it like yesterday. It was not the pizza or low price that stands out today. It was the Razorback basketball game I attended after consuming far too many slices of pizza. I do not remember who won or lost the game because all I wanted was some relief from too much pizza and the beverages... Read more
As the weight of the world overwhelms you release your cares into the hands of God. In the thousands of anxious thoughts residing in your head let your heart contemplate prayerfully on the one thought of God’s love for you. “Throw all your worry on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7) Let go of the problems that trouble your soul and let Him carry your concerns away with Him into the heavenly realms. Be mindful today that... Read more
Richard Rohr writes, “We cannot attain the presence of God because we’re already totally in the presence of God. What’s absent is awareness.” The apostle Paul helps us understand, “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 2:14) Paul was known as Saul before his conversion and hurled murderous threats against the followers... Read more
The conversion and transformation of my heart and mind to Christ is a moment by moment process of letting go of my self-centered thoughts and replacing them with God focused thoughts. As I become fully conscious and aware of Christ living in me, I mindfully release the control of my self-conscious way of life back to God. I am mindful the resurrected Christ is now the center of my life. It is the practice and discipline of being fully aware... Read more
The essence of life is not what I do but who I am. “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalms. 46:10) revolutionized my spiritual life as it transformed my understanding of knowing God intimately. I had never focused on what the “be” described. The “be” is my life centered in the Eternal Now of God. I learned the contemplative practice of experiencing the presence of God in my heart and being aware of God and the state of... Read more
When I focus on the future hoping it will bring me satisfaction and meaning, I might as well be chasing ghosts. The future is an illusion that resides only in the fantasy of my mind. I will never experience the excitement of being alive by focusing and longing for the future. The present moment is the “Eternal Now” of God, and my greatest need is to live mindful of that spiritual truth. I am wired however to reject that truth... Read more
Richard Rohr understands a two-thousand-year-old truth, if not now, when? “The way, you are, is the way you will be. How you do life today is how you will do life tomorrow. If you are unhappy today, you will be unhappy tomorrow.” It is important to understand you will never be any more peaceful or happy than you are right now in this present moment. In each moment, your attitudes and thoughts about life are present in your mind. The... Read more
The mystery and paradox of life are the belief we exist autonomous of everything in the world and then the unbelievable possibility that there is a God that transcends the universe. The Christian faith declares because I am spiritually blind and believe the world centers around me I am unaware of God’s presence and love. Salvation is a gift of having my spiritual eyes open, so I perceive life beyond my human perspective. It is a gift in action that... Read more
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this:... Read more
Mindful Christianity Today
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