Awareness and Acceptance
Mindful awareness seeks to foster acceptance rather than judging one’s life experiences as right or wrong, good or bad, sick or well. It allows us to learn how to see our thoughts as “just thinking,” and teaches how to put our thoughts in their proper place. Just thoughts. Not the facts, hot commands, not instructions.
“The practice of mindfulness defuses our negativity, aggression, and turbulent emotions… Rather than suppressing emotions or indulging in them, here it is important to view them, and your thoughts, and whatever arises with an acceptance and generosity that are as open and spacious as possible.”*
One professor of psychology, John Teasdale, conducted a study using mindfulness meditation as a relapse prevention treatment for depression. He found it extremely effective. Mindfulness is not intended to change the content of our thoughts, but our attitude and relationship to the thought.
In some Christian communities, mindfulness and meditation are met with a bit of suspicion. Certainly this is not true for everyone, but it is a stigma that bears mention. Tomorrow, we will talk more about the practice, but for today, pray with me?
God, you have taught us in your word that we do not have to understand prayer or even be good at it in order to receive the gifts you have for us...the spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself prays for us through wordless groans.
Romans 8:26 NIV
Spirit, keep groaning! We so desperately need divine intervention today.
Amen.
*Sogyal, S. (1992). The Tibetan book of living and dying. New York: Harper & Row, 123.
