written by Stephan Joubert
Much of our lives are spent in auto-pilot mode. We live detached lives. We constantly plan for tomorrow and save up all our energy for that big somewhere on the other side of the rainbow. This auto-pilot lifestyle leads to a highly structured, routinized way of life. In many churches you’ll also see this happening with all those well planned programs and religious events, but with no spontaneity or passion. No wonder so many people in church and elsewhere experience stagnation, fear and anxiety. They feel spiritually empty and numb as the world around them becomes more and more dull. They become bored, cynic and skeptic. Nothing excites them any longer. Not even God can surprise them because they have already planned his next moves, renewals, revivals and his final return in the finest detail.
We need to attune to every moment God grants us in curiosity, openness, acceptance and love. In this way, through our constant awareness of God’s graceful presence, a deep sense of compassion will be nurtured inside us through his Spirit and begin to flow out of us to others around us. The distance between God and us and between ourselves and others will be crossed time and time again as we become more aware of God’s grace.
Being mindful is not self-indulgent. To the contrary, it is an inner awareness of God’s amazing goodness that enhances our capacity for caring relationships with him and others. Therefore, we must escape from of our mindless routines, which trap us in passive habits and negative thought patterns that eventually steal our passion and creativity. Only when we experience deep community with God through his Spirit, does life become more gracious and more enriched. As we realize that we are truly filled with God’s closeness, we become more aware of his extraordinary grace and the privilege of being alive in his presence right this very moment. The more we cultivate our awareness of God’s grace, the more we succeed in breaking free from our prisons of negativity and cynicism. As we experience God’s peace, we also begin to treat ourselves with more grace and dignity too.
