The concept of “mindfulness” has recently been popping up in my horizon of consciousness—in my readings, in social and mass media, even in personal conversations. My encounters with the concept seem to be connected with the field of psychology, in particular.
In the Psychology Today website “mindfulness” is described as “a state of active, open attention on the present. When you’re mindful, you carefully observe your thoughts and feelings without judging them good or bad. Instead of letting your life pass you by, mindfulness means living in the moment and awakening to your current experience, rather than dwelling on the past or anticipating the future.” It appears that the primary focus is on self and how one is experiencing the present moment. However, the intent or end goal of mindfulness is not quite clear to me.
Surely mindfulness cannot be exclusively focused on self. For as we interact with the outside world we need to become conscious of factors other than self that affect our experience—such as circumstances, conditions, and, especially, other people. So, for example, Psychology Today also has an article about “Communicating Mindfully in Relationships.” In other words, mindfulness cannot just be about me feeling good about myself. It also must positively and productively affect my interaction with others.
I am not sure how this affects observing “your thoughts and feelings without judging them good or bad.” Perhaps that is just the first step in discerning what is involved in the experience. We still would have to discern the character of our experience and what it reveals about self. Then we decide how we are to respond to it. At this point of decision about how to respond, there needs to be some kind of standard or basis on which to build our response.
Scripture does speak of mindfulness. But I think with a somewhat different perspective. There is a call to mindfulness about ourselves, to think of self “with sober judgment” (Romans 12.3). Such sober judgment would include recognizing both strengths and weakness. But we are not to stop with “self-acceptance” alone, especially if one’s weaknesses have moral or spiritual implications. Instead, we pay close attention to the instruction of God’s word (Hebrews 2.1). Then, “put yourselves to the test to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!” (2 Corinthians 13.5 NET)
As we face life’s difficult challenges, our mindfulness must ultimately be grounded in God himself. “For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly” (1 Peter 2.19 ESV).
—Keith Y. Jainga