Tag: Mindfulness

The January Time Magazine featured an article on ‘mindfulness’ as a secret to health and happiness. It is a curriculum called Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn. The article states there are nearly 1,000 certified MBSR instructors  in nearly every state in thirty countries. The philosophy is intended to help people “quiet their  busy minds and become more aware of the present moment.” It is designed to help  cope with anxiety, depression and stress in today’s culture where distractions and multitasking are the norms with everyone constantly connected  with iPhones, desktop computers, tablets, iPads, laptops and BlackBerries.

            “An NIH report found that Americans spent some $4 billion on  MBSR and other mindfulness-related alternative medicine in 2007.”  Since then hundreds of articles have been published, new programs like Mindful have emerged along with armloads of books on the subject. 

          Now a congressman from Ohio is pushing to use “more federal funds for mindfulness research” He has secured a million dollar federal  grant to teach mindfulness in schools. The Department of Defense has awarded two one million dollar grants to investigate how the program would benefit men and women in the armed services.

          In the same edition of Time magazine a man wrote an editorial about  his wife who was taking one of the courses on mindfulness. “The course taught her how to close her eyes and think about nothing.”

          Now I am thinking what if people were willing to spend this much time, effort and federal grants to spread God’s Word in schools, workplaces and the armed services where it is forbidden today?

          What if Bibles were included in a school curriculum?

          What if churches spent more time teaching God’s Word from their pulpits?

          What if everyone had the discipline to disconnect from their gadgets to read the Bible?

          What if we just develop our own routine, a quiet place and time, to fill our minds with Scripture and prayer?

          Isn’t it so sad that these people who are dealing with “stress, anxiety and depression”  who are searching so desperately  for comfort, calm reassurance, hope, joy, and love can’t find that one path that would lead to finding all they need in Jesus?

Proverbs 3-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.”