Image: “Fruits of the Holy Spirit” Leanne Bowen Original Art Etsy Shop
Throughout this blog I have come to firmly realize that my thoughts about my relationship with Jesus that I keep emphasizing as being simple, I believe can be expressed easily as living with God-Mindfulness. So I performed a search on all the posts, which have any significant reference to God-Mindfulness, and the following 6 posts came up, and from them I took a quote of what was the particular nuance about God-Minfulness that the post referred to, and placed it in this post. I have then summarized a brief guide of living a God-Mindfulness day compared to the secular practice of Mindfulness described in an issue of the Harvard Gazette, Health and Medicine Newsletter. I hope the guide and thoughts about God-Mindfulness bring you more Joy and Peace in your life and on your road to Sainthood!
Prayerful life, is a “God Mindfulness Life”, anchored by thought and actions about and for God throughout our day. It is a life of acceptance and gratitude for the gifts bestowed on us, maximizing their use for the Love and good of others, all the time!
I frequently remember the gist of a sermon I heard one day about integrating prayer in and throughout your day. A wealthy Business person and a poor Farmer, died at the same time. At the gates of Heaven both persons had their lives reviewed; and St. Peter told the Farmer to step right in. The Business person, was told they would have to do pennance before admittance. The Business person asked why the Farmer was getting preferrential treatment, when she herself actually donated money regularly to the church and attended Church services weekly. St. Peter said the Farmer prayed and offered more to the Lord, than almost anyone else. Upon rising, St. Peter said, the Farmer gave thanks to the Lord, and offered all of his labor for that day, in reparation for the sins against the Lord. At noontime, the Farmer knelt down in the field and took a moment to pray and check in with the Lord, again offering all of his toils for the Lord. In the evening before bed, the Farmer knelt down before retiring, thanked the Lord for the day, for his health and the gift of work, and said some additional prayers. St. Peter said to the Business person, “so when you thought, that the Farmer gave little to the Lord, and prayed little, the Farmer actually made his whole day of work, about the Lord. Now repose yourself to penance before entering the Kingdom.
Images above are of young Blessed Mother, the prayerful gaze of St. Bridgid of Sweden, and Jesus’s image from the Shroud of Turin.
My sister told me her husband used to kneel, in prayer every night before bed. This action reminds me of the Farmer kneeling before the Lord in the field. Kneeling in prayer, a simple action, can focus our intention and show great adoration to the Lord; but how often do we do such simple behaviors?
The actions of focussing on the Lord, doing penance and reparations for the sins against our Lord, are not incompatible with living our lives. Living life with an interior focus of an imitation of the Lord and Mary, is actually what our lives are about, what they are meant for. A life of Prayer to the Lord, is not an abandonment or intrusion into our everyday responsibilities, it is really being acccountable for our gifts, performing our work, with a higher purpose. Our proper attitude and behaviors daily incorporate our life’s activities in the imitation of the way our Lord, and Mary, lived their lives; our highest calling. St Therese of Liseux lived her life in such a manner, called her “Little Way”. Here is a 1 minute clip of some Carmelite Brothers describing Therese’s Little Way.
Prayerful life, is a “God Mindfulness Life”, anchored by thought and actions throughout our day. It is a life of acceptance and gratitude for the gifts bestowed on us, maximizing their use for the Love and good of others, all the time! Fiat!
What’s common about each of these actions is they each have an underlying attitude, a pre-disposition, to desire to Love Jesus and in so doing imitate His example. I call this kind of Living for Jesus, having a God-Mindfulness. I know I had this ATTITUDE before my NDE (Near Death Experience). I also know that where I fell short was in the execution of my ATTITUDE. If I awoke every day and lived a God-Mindfulness day, that would be sufficient for Loving God to the best of my ability, but I didn’t. The focus of this blog is to emphasize to others, that becoming a Saint requires simple actions, but that after my NDE, I know full well, that though the actions are simple, they should be performed daily.
What is great, is that so much of the Godly actions around Prayer and Penance, are a matter of attitude; they do not require a burden of extra time, as much as they require consciously embracing a God-Mindfulness attitude, while completing our daily activities.
So let me close with a few examples of simple “God-Mindfulness” reflections of St. Therese of Lisieux’s, Simple Way, in honor of her Feast Day, October 1. These reflections emphasize loving God, Trusting that God Loves us, and that in our Goodtimes and Suffering times, that we never become discouraged. Fiat!
Talk to God Everyday, perhaps all day, never let HIM out of your site! I call this God-Mindfulness.
“so much of the Godly actions around Prayer and Penance, are a matter of attitude; they do not require a burden of extra time, as much as they require consciously embracing a God-Mindfulness attitude, while completing our daily activities.” The marytojesus.com blog is also the godmindfulness.com blog. MTJ
Classical Religious Music is a form of Christian Contemplative Prayer, … it helps place us in a God-mindful spirit, and as we listen, we hear, we perceive, the composer’s, musical score, transporting us, to a place where we believe God is! When we think of the tools we may use to enter into Christian Contemplative Prayer, they are namely words, images and music.
Prayer: Classical Music brings us closer to God!
Below are a 4-step guide on how to practice Mindfulness a popular and well researched technique for improved mental health and bringing more joy in your life, by living in the moment, and listening or tuning yourself to the world around you and your feelings, attitude and capabilities to make your impact on your world. In the deep blue font I have interspersed a 4-step guide on how to live a Day with God-Mindfulness. I’ve done this so you can compare the two guides, and hopefully see the difference and the advantage of God-Mindfulness. God-Mindfulness has a focus on your relationship to God, to your Creator. God-Mindfulness means living connected continually to God, for God is our Present, He is our reality, and His Blessings are the source of our feelings, attitudes and capabilities to make an impact in the world around us. We live with Gratitude for our gifts of Joys and Sufferings that He has gives us daily. He clears and frees our mind of all stress and anxiety, because we place our complete trust in Him and know that as a Merciful and Loving Father that He is always with us, and in His wisdom, He guides us, and with Him, we will live forever!
Mindfulness meditation made easy, in black font and A God-Mindfulness Living in deep blue italic font!
Settle in
On rising at the start of your Day, Give Thanks to God, to Jesus, for His Gift of Today, and offer to Him all your Work, your Joys and your Sufferings, Inconveniences and Injustices as reparations for the sins of all who have offended God. Offer you good works to Mary for her intentions, especially if you’ve been Consecrated..
Find a quiet space. Using a cushion or chair, sit up straight but not stiff; allow your head and shoulders to rest comfortably; place your hands on the tops of your legs with upper arms at your side.
Now breathe
At Mid-day, talk with God about how the day has progressed Seek His forgiveness for things you have done to offend Him, offer the merits of all you have accomplished for Jesus and Mary’s intentions.
Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and relax. Feel the fall and rise of your chest and the expansion and contraction of your belly. With each breath notice the coolness as it enters and the warmth as it exits. Don’t control the breath but follow its natural flow.
Stay focused
On Retiring for the Day, Give Thanks for all God’s Blessings and what you have accomplished with the gifts provided by God. Seek His forgiveness for how you have offended Him. Offer the merits of all you have accomplished for Jesus and Mary’s intentions.
Thoughts will try to pull your attention away from the breath. Notice them, but don’t pass judgment. Gently return your focus to your breath. Some people count their breaths as a way to stay focused.
Take 10
Contemplate the Love of Jesus and Mary for you, for how They have Blessed you. Ask Jesus and Mary to hold you and protect you, to guide your thoughts and actions as you go to sleep.
A daily practice will provide the most benefits. It can be 10 minutes per day, however, 20 minutes twice a day is often recommended for maximum benefit.
Fiat! MTJ
You can see the Godmindfulness Daily Practice Guide Here
Fiat!
[…] This guide is meant to be used to practice living a life of God-Mindfulness as explained in the posts about God-Mindfulness. […]