Verle Bell M.D.
[Originally published as Radical Mindfulness]
Remember the rule? If I want to know what godliness looks like — I just picture what I normally do, and then godliness will, pretty much, be the opposite!
So what is my normal state of mindfulness?
Well, not to be mindful at all!
I let my focus drift to the future, the past, and everywhere else. If I manage to pull my focus to the present, I tend to
- take for granted the good,
- go round and round, resenting the negative aspects,
- picture and long for my present reality to be something else.
I think that if only I had more, then I would be happy. Then, when I get more, I am not happy because what I wanted is now what I have, and I have trained my brain to take it for granted/resent its flaws/and wish for even more.
If only that person loved me, or that one was my friend. These people I have are selfish, ungrateful electronic addicts who suck me dry and return nothing, etc., etc.
There is no point trying because I would just screw up everything. I can’t do this and I can’t do that, and since I can’t, what is the point of trying? What I could do wouldn’t change anything!
Look at me, I am unlovable, I wish I were someone else.
Radical Mindfulness
What do I have?
Let me savor the things I have right now and thank God for it, take care of it, build it, invest in it, and share it with others.
Be content with such things as I have. (Hebrews 13:15)
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Who is in my life?
Let me love on them and learn from them, enjoy them, be glad to see them and encourage them, and seek their best interest. This is the biblical principle of love, both phileo and agape.
What can I do?
I can move my body members as servants to God according to a growing awareness of God’s principles in action, and then delight in what God is able to make out of it. This is the biblical principle of obedience to God.
Who am I?
Let me delight in God’s design and craftsmanship of my inner and outer self and how it allows me to minister to others as a useful part of Christ’s body, rejoicing in the gifts of others. This is the biblical principle of worship.
For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that….
Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ….
For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles….
I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds. (1 Corinthians 7:7, 11:1, 2 Cor. 11:5, Acts 26:29)
I look at reality with God’s eyes that see the good and the evil but leave judgment to him, that is, I don’t allow myself to go round and round on the details. Then I seize the moment with God’s help:
Problems: I accept myself and God’s sovereignty when I can’t fix the problem. After all, no one gets away with sin, or God would be mocked. I bless and minister to and pray for those who curse and use me. I set limits on the problem when I can and fix what God enables me to.
People: I love on them and learn from them and encourage them in the Lord and set limits when I need to.
Tasks: I grab them with all my might.
Then I ask: Is there anything else God wats me ot do about this situation right now? If not, Lord, help me let go and grab the next piece of life.
