MINDFULNESS and CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY
Making Space for God
by Tim Stead
(US publication 2017, John Knox Publisher)
Following Pentecost, I have begun reading a book by an Anglican priest, Tim Stead, on the concepts of mindfulness and how the practice can apply to our Christian faith and traditions. I will continue to summarize the key points of the chapters with a haiku plus the prayers will be embedded in a signature word for that day. Information regarding the sections and chapters of the book will surround the image. Hopefully I can continue to ponder the book while visiting the labyrinth I have created on the south end of our property!
INTRODUCTION
Monday June 1 2020
WORD FOR THE DAY:
WHY
NOT?
Christian mindfulness?
Or an old Buddhist practice
for non-believers?
There is considerable
debate as to whether
Mindfulness is an accepted
Christian practice or a more ‘pagan’ ritual that focuses
exclusively on Self, not God. Stead argues
NOT!
Tuesday June 2 2020
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
SPACE
Mindfulness Practice -
Op’ning up, Inviting In
Making Space for God
“We cannot save
ourselves. We cannot even heal ourselves. Christians believe that
only God, in Christ, is our healer and Savior. But there is
something we can do – and need to do – and that is to make space
for God to come to us….It is my suggestion that mindful- ness
offers us a way of opening up, inviting in – making space for God.”
(p xvi)
PART
ONE – WHAT IS MINDFULNESS?
Chapter 1: Mindfulness in Its Clinical
and Mainstream Context
Wednesday June 3 2020
WORD FOR THE DAY:
DEFINITION
Present Awareness
Personal Experience
and Non-Judgmental
“First,
a definition: Mindfulness can be described as being more fully aware
of your own experience in the present moment in a non-judgmental way”
(p6)
WORD FOR THE DAY:
RAISINS
Focus on raisin
Texture, smell, touch, and
sweet taste
Linger and notice
“Your experience with the
raisin may be...boredom, irritation, dislike of raisins,
self-conscious thoughts about what on earth you are doing….It
doesn’t matter what
we experience or notice, only that we notice it. (p10)
WORD FOR THE DAY:
KINDNESS
May I know kindness
May I BE kindness to others
Compassion for all
“The third type of
practice...is compassion or kindness. Now this is an interesting
thing to include in an apparently ‘secular’ course. How can
kindness be a ‘practice’? How can one learn compassion? …
Well, as it happens, it is not really about feelings at all, but
about developing an attitude of kindness both to ourselves and to
others.” (p. 15)
PART ONE – WHAT IS MINDFULNESS?
Chapter 2: Mindfulness in the
Christian Tradition
WORD FOR THE DAY:
CONTEMPLATIVE
“Many
will quite rightly argue that something very similar to mindfulness
has been around in the Christian tradition since the beginning
too….We haven’t called it mindfulness. We’ve called it ‘silent
prayer’ or ‘contemplative prayer’, ‘the desert tradition’
or ‘mystical theology’, but it has been there from Jesus through
St. Paul, all the way up to the present.” (p18)
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
INTELLECTUAL
Western
Religion:
We think
often ABOUT God
But fail
to FEEL God
“We
are rightly proud of our intellectual tradition in the West….but
our heads won’t get us to God, partly because God will always be
beyond our thoughts, ideas, and images, and partly because it is an
EXPERIENCE of God that we need – and our minds represent only a
part of that experience.” (p19)
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
BODY-CONSCIOUS
Western
Religion:
Negative
body focus
Yet God
made it good!
“God
made us mind AND body; furthermore, having made us in this way, God
declared us ‘good’. …..I have wondered whether mindfulness’
focus on the body rather than directly on the divine is what makes
space for God in an experiential rather than intellectual way.”
(p19-20)
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
JUDGMENT
Western religion:
Too much sin-guilt, need more grace
Be non-judgmental
“We
need to consider the consequences of our overemphasis, in Western
teachings, on personal sin and judgment…..Mindfulness helps us to
become aware of ourselves, our thoughts, and our bodily impulses in a
nonjudgmental way…..will be what leads us to choose better actions,
not shame and repression.” (p20)
Mindfulness
in the Gospels
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
SCRIPTURE
Parable
stories:
Mary,
Martha, Prodigal
Affirm
mindful thought
“The
Gospels seem to be full of this more holistic approach to
spirituality….there is a danger, of course, … to read mindfulness
into every Scripture text you come across, but there seems to be
enough here to give us a certain confidence that, far from straying
away from Jesus’ spirituality, we appear to be straying right into
the heart of it. (p26)
CHAPTER 3: My (Stead) Journey to Mindfulness
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
BEGINNINGS
Beginnings are hard
But filled with promise and hope
Start from where you are
“All
beginnings may be hard, but at least we can all start, because the
starting point is wherever and whoever we are….beginnings are hard,
but also exciting and brimming with possibility.” (p28)
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
RELATIONSHIP
Knowing God is brains
A relationship with God
Lies deep in the heart
“God
is beyond words….so the knowing of God was ‘union’ - an
experiential relationship, rather than an understanding of
theological ideas about God.” (p32)
Saturday June 13 2020
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
GRACE
Grace releases us
From judgment, condemnation
Naked souls before God
“The
nonjudging approach of mindfulness was revelatory and appeared
entirely consistent with talk of grace. Whatever I actually
experienced in my life was no longer judged to be either good or bad
but was to be fully experienced for whatever it was so that it could
be laid bare before God.” (p36)
PART TWO: FROM BELIEVING TO KNOWING
Sunday
June 14 2020
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
BELIEVING
Believing
in mind
Must
lead to knowing in life
It is OK
to doubt
“My
own view is that belief is not about reciting a set of words, but
about knowing something to be true in our own experience….mindfulness
might enrich our faith by moving us from simply believing something
in our heads to knowing something in our lives.” (p40-41)
Chapter
4: God Is One, God Is Love, God Is Now!
Monday
June 15 2020
God
Is One
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
DIVISION
God: No
Division
From
self, others, or nature
God is
unity
“So
God is one and everything that there is is one in God. This is not
just a neat doctrinal statement but a fundamental description of the
whole of reality. Humans have divided up that which is one in God
over and over again in order to serve our own greed. Mindfulness is
entirely concerned with reconnecting what has been divided and so
bringing the unity of God into human experience.” (46-7)
Tuesday
June 16 2020 God
Is Love
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
DIVINE
LOVE
God is
divine love
Non-judging,
full awareness
Embracing
us in grace
“Not
dependent on human whim or fancy, divine love needs to infuse all the
human love we experience….If I feel loved entirely without
judgment, I will gradually dare to allow every aspect of myself to
come into the light of God’s gaze and so into relationship with
the rest of myself.” (49)
God is Now!
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
OMNIPRESENT
God’s
omnipresence
Exists
in the heart of NOW
God is
THIS moment!
“What
a wonderful way to live, then – so unconcerned with what may have
happened in the past and unafraid of what may happen in the future
that we are entirely caught up only in the now and able to experience
the present moment for its own sake.” (52)
Chapter
5: Jesus – The Embodied One, the Liberated One, the Awakened One
Thursday
June 18 2020
Jesus
the Embodied One
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
INCARNATE
Jesus
incarnate
Experienced
God fully
In
bodily form
“Jesus
is the embodied one – the one who knew and experienced God, fully
and completely, in his huyman flesh and blood. … I am slowly coming
to reconnect with my body, to delight in it and wonder at the
glorious fact that it is in this body and in this body alone that I
will come to know God.” (p56)
Friday
June 19 2020
Jesus
the Liberated One
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
FREEDOM
Freedom
is awareness
No
hidden fears, compulsions
No
conflict with death
“Freedom
is perhaps not just about doing what you like but about being free to
be who we are called to be...In mindfulness, it is in awareness that
we find freedom...an ongoing process bo bringing awareness to all
that is going on within me I have become aware of the hidden fears,
insecuirities, resentments, and compulsions that cause me to be less
than free. Jesus is the liberated one, in whom there was no hidden
controlling power to conflict with his freedom.” (p57-58)
Saturday
June 20 2020
Jesus
the Awakened One
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
AWAKENED
Wake up
and live life
Wise to
all the potential
Of the
risen self
“The
resurrected Christ reveals to us what fullness of human living might
be for someone who has finally and fully woken up to all that there
is. While we are not fully awake to all of reality, we are living a
half-life….Jesus is...the fully awakened one who beckons us to
follow him – to dare to wake up to all of life.” (p60)
Chapter
6 – The Holy Spirit: Free Will, Decentering
Sunday
June 21 2020
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
CHOICE
Does
free will exist?
Perhaps
conscious choices made
Define
Spirit work
“The
work of mindfulness is to help us to move toward that place where
choices are being made, even if they are unconscious, and to begin to
make those choices conscious ones (or free ones, as far as our
conscious minds are concerned) which is what I would define as ‘free
will’. …. Finding the place where we still have a choice, I
would suggest, is where we can let the Holy Spirit affect our lives.”
(p63, 65)
Monday
June 22 2020
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
DECENTER
It’s
not about me!
I’m
not the center of all!
Spirit
works THROUGH me
“Wisdom
, then (ofted noted as the Old Testament precursor to the Spirit) is
what comes with this decentering of human consciousness. God cares
for us and perhaps wants us to have a unique role, but we should not
see ourselves as the center. Not everything revolves around us and
it is not for our sole benefit that everything has been created…
(p67)
Part
3: FROM DOING TO BEING
INTRODUCTION
WORD FOR THE DAY:
WORD FOR THE DAY:
BEING
Doing or
being?
Being
makes a place for God
To
impact doing
“It
is in this being mode that we make space for God because this is
where the choices become apparent. God is, of course, involved in
both being and doing, but if we want to know what the wise and Godly
thing to be doing might be, it will often in the ‘being mode’
that we become aware of this. This is also the place of flexibility
and openness where God might have half a chance of affecting our
decisions. (p70)
Chapter
7: Knowing God’s Presence
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
PRESENCE
Experience God now
Presence may not be pleasant
But always it is good
“Whether
one has felt a sense of God in the past or has profound thoughts
about God now matters little if one is not experiencing God’s
presence in the here and now….that present moment may not always be
all that pleasant,...but it will always be good. (p72)
God is not present to us tomorrow. God is not present to us
yesterday. God is only ever present to us today. But when tomorrow
comes, that will be the present and God will be there too. Let us
make sure, though, that we, too, are present when tomorrow comes.
(78)
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
SOLE
SENSATION
Hear, See, Smell, Touch, Taste
Senses are the channel to
Experience God
“The
only way we will ever experience God is through our own senses...if
God wants to communicate with us, reassure us, disturb us, bring
conviction, or guide us, it will be through the senses in our bodies
(and I include in this the thoughts in our minds), so getting better
attuned to our bodies and the sensations we find there will, again,
be a key part of being present to God. (77)
Chapter
8: Trusting God
Friday
June 26 2020
Saturday
June 27 2020
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
TRUST
Trust in
the Lord God.
Does
trust mean to do nothing?
Trust is
NOT passive!
“We
are supposed to trust God…..One question might simply be, ‘Does
this mean I just do nothing?’ In other words, is trust about
passivity? This is important to reflect on, since Christian
spirituality can sound dangerously passive if we are not careful.
Responding to some difficulty simply by accepting that this must be
God’s will may sound like trust but, of course, can also be a way
of avoiding what God would have us do. (p79)
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
LETTING
GO
We
cannot trust God
While
clinging to fears and greed
Practice
‘letting go’!
“The
only way to this kind of life (what we call ‘resurrection life’)
is by the kind of trust in God that is marked by a persistent letting
go of another kind of life that is ruled and ordered by our own fears
and greed. We may feel safer in such a life, but it is not
resurrection life. It is not the authentic, liberating ‘life in
all its fullness’ that Jesus promises us.” (p80)
CHAPTER
9: Knowing God’s Will
Sunday
June 28 2020
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
GOD’S
WILL
How to
know God’s will?
So many
voices are heard!
Which is
‘still, small voice’?
“The
problem is there are so many voices around. … Pretty much all the
voices can be divided up into expressions of desire (things I want
more of) and aversion (things I want less of). ...Knowing God’s
will, then, begins with our becoming more aware of our own wills in
the form of our desires and aversions. If we could see what these are
more clearly, then perhaps we would half a chance at discerning the
authentic from the froth.” (87-88)
Monday
June 29 2020
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
THOUGHTS
Focus on
sounds heard
Then
without judgment on thoughts
Discern
MY will first
“Quite
simply, this seems be how our desires begin to lose their intensity
so that we can become more sensitized to the often quieter, more
persistent voice of God saying ‘This way’ or “That way is for
you‘. And when we begin to hear this voice, we sense its
authenticity and we wonder why we have not heard it before – it is
like coming home. So once we have become more fully aware of our own
will, we have a greater chance of discerning God’s will – the
‘still, small voice’ of authenticity and truth. “ (92)
CHAPTER
10: Finding Peace
Tuesday
June 30 2020
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
PEACE
When
turmoil surrounds
Seek
peace despite the crisis
Or
change the event!
“If
circumstances seem inexplicable to us and throw us into turmoil, then
perhaps we need simply to admit to this….(In
Mark 4, when Jesus calms the storm) we find two contrasting
parts to the story. The first describes how Jesus appears to be so
calm in the midst of the storm that it doesn’t distub his sleep.In
the second part, he recognizes the disciples are overwhelmed...and he
calms the storm….The first part is about being peaceful DESPITE the
circumstances, the second is about bringing peace by CHANGING the
circumstances.” (94)
Wednesday
July 1 2020
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
AVOIDANCE
Approach,
don’t avoid
The
conflicts and trials of life
Find
peace in the storm
“The
emotional instinct of avoidance is very strong in us. But there are
two problems with this. One is that it is not always possible to
avoid or fix external circumstances….The other is that trying to
fix or avoid inner discomfort – emotional or psychological issues,
for example – in the way we try to fix other unwanted situations
doesn’t seem to work at all…..So we need another strategy, and
the one that mindfulness offers us ...is to develop the rather
counterintuitive skill of opening up to, and actually approaching
rather than avoiding, that which is difficult for us. It is through
approaching rather than avoiding that we find peace in the storm.”
(96)
CHAPTER
11: ‘Inner Healing’
Thursday
July 2 2020
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
HEALING
Conflicted
mind-thoughts?
God,
through the Holy Spirit,
Does
inner-healing
“I
would define ‘inner healing’ as the process by which we become as
whole and as free as is possible for each of us as human beings. A
Christian account of this might be described as the process by which
the soul draws close to divine wholeness such that what is not whole
is exposed to pure love and so is healed – or made whole. What
part does mindfulness play in this process? ….enables a change in
relationship with those things that cause us pain or cause us to
bring pain to others. The work of God, one might argue, is all about
the restoring of right relationships.” (100)
Friday
July 3 2020
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
PERMISSION
Bring
into the Light
The
inner pains and draw close
To
divine healing
“God
only ever works through relationships of openness and trust, and this
therefore requires of us a very significant part in the [healing]
process, and that is the ‘giving of permission’. This is much
more profound...than simply ticking the box on a medical form.
...God does not want simply to perform an act on us as a surgeon
might on an unconscious patient; God needs us to be co-healers –
entirely involved and entirely in consent with every part of the
process.” (102)
CHAPTER
12: Prayer and Worship
Saturday
July 4 2020
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
PRAYER
Left
brain or right brain
Analyze
or see the ‘whole’ --
What
controls our prayer?
“...the
two sides of the brain should work in a complementary fashion with
the right brain holding the whole picture in mind but delegating the
task of analysis and problem-solving relating to small parts of the
picture to the left brain… the tragedy, for Western society in
particular, is that the left brain has risen above its station and
thinks that its role has priority….What is desperately needed,
then, is the reassertion of the right brain or for this ‘holistic’
attention to have priority again.” (112)
Sunday
July 5 2020
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
ATTENTION
Love God
and love self
Then
focus love on others
Include
those opposed
“Mindfulness
practice steers us toward and gives us ways of practicing this kind
of ‘holistic’ attention. The holistic gaze is one of
love...divine love, the most previous love of all. And this, too, is
the heart of prayer….true prayer is about sitting before God in
loving attention….this kind of attention makes space for God, which
is what prayer and worship should be about.” (113)
CHAPTER
13: Practicing Love
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
PRACTICE
Love
others as self
Practicing
love can be hard
Begin
with self love
“This
is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you.
(John 15:12) Here is one of the great dilemnas of the Christian. We
know (as every one else does) that we are called to love, but to be
honest we find we are no better at it that anyone else, and, it
appears, actually worse than many that do not claim to have a life of
faith or spirituality. What is going on here? (118-119)
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
COMPASSION
Cultivate
a love attitude
Holding
friends and foes in mind
Compassion
for all
Summary:
Work through a Kindness sequence, beginning with self, moving to
friends and family, others, ending with those you have ill feelings
towards. We aren’t asking God to change anything, but the chance
takes place in our attitude and mindset toward the people and the
situation. “It helps us move from the analytical, ‘doing’ mode
of the mind to the ‘being’ mode, which is where compassion is
found.” (123)
CHAPTER
14: Reconnecting with Nature
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
NATURE
Man
is separate
From
the rest of Creation
Which
cheapens all life
“A
third...separation happened: humans and nature were two separate
entities, and huymans were superior. So, whenever the needs of
humans and the needs of nature clashed, it would be those of huymans
that would take priority...the alternate view is that hymans are part
of nature and that every time we diminish nature, we diminsh
ourselves as well. Humans and the rest of nature are part of one
creation and all part of an extraordinarily balanced ecosystem. We
will survive together or not at all.” (127)
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
CONNECTED
Connect
and Protect
We are
all here together
All
Creation – HOME!
“Unless
I have experienced this reconnection with nature at a deep level
within me, I will hesitate to make the effort to show greater respect
to the planet...’Why would we protect what we have yet learned to
love?” … I am part of nature too. I am connected. I too am
here. We are here together. There is a mutual respect – a sense
of belonging to one another, a sense of being at home with one
another.” (p.129-130)
CHAPTER
15: Daily Living
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
DAILY
LIFE
What
diff’rence is made
By being
mindful if it
Doesn’t
change my life?
“So,
in the spirit of the best of the Christian tradition, which
emphasizes the integral connection between the inner and the outer
life – and that there is really one ONE life – mindfulness is not
primarilhy about becoming good at mindfulness practices, but, rather,
about becoming a more mindful person in daily life...It’s not how
good I am at practicing that counts. It’s the effect it has on my
life!” (132)
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
HABIT
RELEASERS
Awaken
to God
Break
routines with new attempts
To find
awareness
“There
are many activities we do habitually in life. When something becomes
routine, this may seem comforting and give a sense of security, but
it also means we stop noticing….we are seeking to encourage a habit
of awareness….Examples to try: 1/ Go to work via a new route or
means of transport; 2/ Sit in a different spot at home, church, or
work; 3/ Eat a meal in silence focusing on the food; Be creative in
thinking of other habit breakers!
EPILOGUE:
Life In All Its Fullness
Wednesday
July 15 2020
WORD
FOR THE DAY:
EPILOGUE
What is
it all for?
Be open
to abundant
Life
found in Jesus!
“It
is the holistic, right-brain awarness that puts us in touch with the
big picture. Write down something you truly value in life that might
serve as a compelling reason for continuing to practice mindfulness –
not out of duty but with passion and out of love….Chanes will come
to our lives, but not necessarily the ones we are looking for, nor as
quickly as we would like. Was it not ever so with God, though, who
knows better than us both what we need and how fast we can move””
(p138-140)
“I
would love to live like a river flows,
carried
by the surprise of its own unfolding.”
-John
O’Donahue
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