Lord, I offer myself today! However, honestly, that is not my first desire. My flesh and ego would rather flee from your presence. My prayer is, please help me see you, and convince my heart to seek you in the silence, so I may spend time alone with you. Let me dwell and feast in the eternal goodness of your love. Let me hide in the shelter of the Almighty as I acknowledge my weakness and sin. I am now... Read more
There is a force that chooses what I like, what I want, and what I think is best for my life. It thinks it can make me happy and knows everything needed for my personal gratification. It has an insatiable appetite for more money, power, success, cars and homes as the answer for my peace and contentment. It is never satisfied with what it currently has in its possession, and it hates change. It is my “self” dominating every aspect... Read more
There are buzz words which stir me to question the validity of your walk with Christ. When hearing particular phrases, I stop listening to you and start judging your heart. Your interpretation of being a Christian is suspect to the scripture I hold dear, and I need to warn and advise you to escape the flames. I confess forty years as a Protestant evangelical taught me to suspect anyone who wrote or spoke the truth in opposition to mine. Words... Read more
The Christian practice of mindfulness offers me a sacred opportunity for experiencing the life of Christ residing in my heart. Mindfulness like contemplation helps transform my mind and thoughts into perceiving Christs presence dwelling in me. I become cognizant of the fact my life and soul live in union with the Spirit of God. In Christian theology salvation is the recovery of our true self, the image and reflection of God in us. In the spiritual discipline of mindfulness, I... Read more
Life is one continuous moment; one moment after another moment uninterrupted until we die. Our life adventure is measured in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and the years unraveling at an alarming speed. I ask you, “What is the most significant moment you experienced today or last week? Are you aware of anything that you deeply experienced, appreciated and cherished in your life recently? I must be honest my smartphone preoccupies most of my waking hours with the absurd... Read more
Letting go of the voices in my head is the pathway to inner peace and the presence of God. Constantly thinking about my problems is the problem of comprehending the voice of God within me. A newspaper once asked a question, “What’s wrong with the world today?” and a reply came back, “Dear Sir, I am. Yours truly, G.K. Chesterton” Chesterton’s response declares the problem resides in me and you. My thoughts and feelings bouncing around in my head bombard... Read more
The Genesis narrative is Paradise lost as humanity goes it alone. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden represents the tree of “self” which separates us from the Creator of life. In the chaos, we become like God knowing and experiencing life from our perspective. Men and women search for the meaning of life through personal experience and are blind to see reconciliation and union with God as a possibility. The good news... Read more
“Strictly speaking, contemplation is an immediate and in some sense passive intuition of the inmost reality, of our spiritual self and of God present within us.” Thomas Merton Contemplation is the deep spiritual awareness of the eternal dimension of life. It is a walk both in the world and out of the world. It takes us beyond the intellectual truth we know about God to an inner experience of His presence living in us. Our hearts comprehend we are the... Read more
The presence of the kingdom of God is found in the quiet of the heart, not in the intellect of the mind. The major hindrance of intimacy with God is the mind. There can never be union and peace in our heart as long as the mind thinks and locates God out there and not present within us. If we believe God is out there, the fallen mind will pursue a relationship with God based on performance and works to... Read more
Mindfulness is a term that confounds Christians. However, if I said, “Men and women live their lives in mindlessness no one would think a second thought about it.” Mindlessness is living life as described, mindlessly. It is living my life on auto-pilot going through each day without awareness or appreciation of any particular moment in time. I am alive and breathing, but I live like the walking dead. I am like a robot subconsciously programmed going through the motions of... Read more
Mindful Christianity Today
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