Mindfulness

“Emphasis on the present moment is also a key tool for those of us who can spend too much of our time living either in the past or in the future: worrying, replaying or even over-celebrating what has happened, or planning what is about to happen, while never fully appreciating what is right here in front of us.” So says Tim Stead in his book “Mindfulness and Christian Spirituality: Making Space for God”, which I have recently completed reading. Stead’s indicating the value of mindfulness is a timely reminder of the value of making space. As Stead also says: “Mindfulness itself does not fix things but seeks to open up a space where things might (if appropriate) be fixed. In fact, it teaches us more about not fixing things and about learning that it is not our place to try to save ourselves. But it does teach us the skill of opening things up – bringing concerns to the surface – so that, in God’s time and in God’s way, they might be healed or restored.”