How to be mindful versus mindless

Charles Stone March 6, 2019

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What if I could add a full month to my life this year? 

Would I? 

Would you?

I don’t mean calendar time, that you could morph 12 months into 13. However, I do mean quality time—doing more of what really matters to you—a month more each year. The apostle Paul refers to this when he admonishes us to “make the most of every opportunity” (Ephesians 5:16).

Unfortunately, we often don’t live in the moment, in this space. Rather than being mindful, we often become mindless. We flit from one distraction to another, trying to satisfy our every whim.¹ When we live mindlessly, we entangle ourselves in unhealthy thoughts and afflictive emotions. We crucify ourselves between two crosses. One rehashes and replays difficulties from the past that we cannot change. The other rehearses and ruminates over problems that might occur in the future that we cannot control. 

As a result, we seldom joyfully and fully engage the present moment. Holy noticing makes us become more aware of our internal world as we respond to stimuli from our outer world. It helps us expand that space between a stimulus and our internal or external response. 

This space, between stimulus and response, is a crucial window into real peace, shalom, human flourishing, full engagement in the present moment, noticing with a holy purpose. The wider the space in time, the greater the opportunity for shalom. Holy noticing helps expand that space between stimulus and response giving us “the opportunity to think and feel differently, which give the freedom to choose the best way to solve problems.”² It frees us from the gravitational pull to-ward unpleasant and difficult thoughts and emotions.

Neuroscientists have discovered that how well we regulate our internal responses (thoughts and emotions) and external responses (body language, words, displays of emotion) is essential to our well-being.³ By growing this space through this practice, the Holy Spirit can help us control 

more consistently our emotions, thoughts, and how we display them to others. This in turn enhances our relationship with Jesus, others, and even ourselves.

When we do that, God’s Spirit empowers us to live more fully in the moment in a nonreactionary and nonjudgmental way. We’re able to step off the treadmill of the past, stop anxiously replaying what might happen in the future, and engage the present with joy and peace, shalom. 

As a spiritual skill, this way of life involves three ways of looking: (1) looking in (at our thoughts, body states, and emotions), (2) looking out (at our relationships and our immediate environment), and (3) looking up (at our relationship with Jesus). We might even call this, “mindFullness” because “our being is filled with the presence of God.”⁴

One stand-out episode in Jesus’ life illustrates this. During His visit with Mary and Martha, He contrasted their responses to His presence with them. He drew attention to Mary’s present-moment engagement with Him and lovingly admonished Martha for her busyness. And a different Mary, Mary Magdalene, the first to arrive at the empty tomb after Jesus’ resurrection, shows how we can miss being in the moment (see John 20). Her grief kept her from initially noticing the risen Christ. 

We might also parallel holy noticing to the role John the Baptist played in the life of Jesus. John paved the way for the coming Messiah so that the people would be ready to receive Him when that moment arrived. 

Although it doesn’t necessarily fix difficulties in our lives, holy noticing helps prepare us by opening up a space where those difficulties might be fixed, if need be. It takes a further step by showing us that sometimes we need not “fix” things. The “fix” can often come through simple awareness. It teaches 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 (Mark 4:22).”⁵

Finally, Jesus captured the essence of this practice in his rebuke of Peter in Mark 8:33: “‘Get behind me, Satan!’ he said. ‘You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.’” 

As we hone our ability to be present in the moment of moral choosing, we will more consistently choose the “concerns of God” rather than “the human concerns” that vie for our attention. As holy noticing becomes an ongoing trait in our lives—as a skill we can learn—it will profoundly benefit our lives, our relationship with God, and those around us. 

1 Ernest E. Larkin, “Christian Mindfulness,” n.d., http://carmelnet.org/larkin/larkin017.pdf, 6. 

2 Welch, How to Be a Mindful Christian, loc. 129. 

3 Kirk Warren Brown, J. David Creswell, and Richard M. Ryan, eds., Handbook of Mindfulness: Theory, Research, and Practice(Plymouth, UK: Guilford Press, 2015), 329. 

4 Shaun Lambert, A Book of Sparks: A Study in Christian MindFullness(Watford, UK: Instant Apostle, 2014), loc. 347, Kindle. 

5 Stead, Mindfulness and Christian Spirituality, loc. 813 .

Excerpted fromHoly Noticingby Charles Stone (Moody 2019). Used with permission.

Photo source: istock 

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Charles Stone coaches and equips pastors and teams to effectively navigate the unique challenges ministry brings. By blending biblical principles with cutting-edge brain-based practices he helps them enhance their leadership abilities, elevate their preaching/ teaching skills, and prioritize self-care. A pastor for over 42 years, he has served as a lead pastor, associate pastor, and church planter. He published seven books, and over 300 of his articles have appeared on various Christian leadership websites. He holds four earned academic degrees, including a D.Min. and a Ph.D. Learn More »

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