Hey, you. Yeah, the person staring at the screen.
Iād like to invite you to think about your feet.
Theyāve done a lot for you, so take a few minutes to acknowledge your ten-toed reality. Ā How far have your feet travelled today? Have you ever gone anywhere without them? Do you like them, or do you think theyāre gross?
Next, notice what your feet are feeling. Are they cold? Any pain or discomfort? Bare to the air or surrounded by socks? Do your socks match?
All right. Our experiment is done and itās time to talk about why we just did that. Of all the things in the universe, why should we expend our precious mental energy on feet, unless, of course, weāre clipping our toenails or buying new running shoes. Do we really want our feet to be in our heads? I donāt, but what I shared is a silly example of a habit that I do want to practice, and thatās mindfulness.
Have you heard the buzz about mindfulness? Google, Target, and JP Morgan offer employees mindfulness training to increase productivity and boost the bottom line. Elementary schools use mindful meditation as a strategy to improve studentās attention. Many Olympic athletes credit their success to the practice of mindfulness.
But what exactly is it?
Mindfulness is āthe quality or state of being conscious or aware of something.ā (Oxford Dictionary, 2016).
Creationists should be at the forefront of mindfulness.
I believe that Christians should be mindful people. No, Iām not talking about attending meditation workshops that fill the mind with random things or empty the mind altogether. Some of the secular mindfulness exercises are downright weird and donāt point to Jesus. But to say that mindfulness is ābadā is to say that itās wrong to be conscious or aware of something, and Iām pretty sure thereās nothing moral about being unconscious.
As amazing as your brain is, it can only think about one thing at a time. At any given moment, your one conscious thought may be far removed from what it is that youāre actually experiencing. One of the goals of the mindfulness movement is to connect human beings to the present moment.
Mindful eating occurs when we slowly savor the flavor of our food, instead of swallowing it whole on the way to work. Mindful conversations happen when we set aside our cell phones, look someone in the eyes, and truly listen to what he or she is saying. Mindful time in nature requires that we slow down and actually engage our senses in the beauty around us.
Creationists should be at the forefront of mindfulness. Why? Because our understanding of nature and of God infuses our present-moments with a beautiful meaning that far transcends any mindfulness that could exist in an evolutionary worldview. My favorite example of mindfulness meditation is found in Psalm 8:3-4:
“When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in placeā¦.ā
King Davidās senses are filled with the beauty of creation. As he mindfully savors its meaning, a question forms in his mind. Itās the question that all mindfulness should lead us to.
āSo God, Iām out here looking at the moon and the stars. Iām thinking about the things that Youāve made, and I canāt help but wonderā¦ā
“What is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?ā
Did you catch that? King Davidās mindfulness simply led him to the mindfulness of God. As he fixed his mind on the work of Godās fingers, his heart was filled with the warmth of Godās heart.
Let your senses remind you of His sensational generosity.
āWho am I, God, that you are mindful of me? You care about me. Iām the one youāre thinking about!ā A few Psalms later, David unpacks Godās mindfulness even more: āHow precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered. I canāt even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!ā (Psalm 139:17-18, NLT)
Jesus is mindful of you. And He wants His artwork to be a constant reminder of the precious thoughts He has toward you.
āāGod is loveā is written upon every opening bud, upon every spire of springing grass. The lovely birds making the air vocal with their happy songs, the delicately tinted flowers in their perfection perfuming the air, the lofty trees of the forest with their rich foliage of living greenāall testify to the tender, fatherly care of our God and to His desire to make His children happy” (Ellen White, Steps to Christ, p. 10).
Iād like to encourage you to join the mindfulness movement. You donāt need to bow, chant, light a candle, or turn into a yogi (in fact, mindfulness will move you away from mind-emptying meditations).Ā All you need to do is direct more thought and attention to Godās good and perfect gifts. Let your senses remind you of His sensational generosity.
As you slowly chew your food. What kind of God would create these amazing tastes?
As you hold the hand of one you love. What does the gift of touch reveal about its Artist?
As you look into a star-filled sky or feel the crunch of autumn leaves beneath your feet, pause for a mindful moment, and rememberā¦youāre on His mind and He wants to be on yours.
Elise Harboldt
Elise studies theology at Andrews University. A registered nurse, her background is in health ministry and resource development. She is the coauthor of Goodbye Diabetes, Diabetes Undone and graduated from ARISE in 2007.
