City Of God 37

Gentle Reader, I am devoting most of this post to an e dialogue I am having with a friend. I am only going to copy here some things I have had to say, somewhat redacted out of respect for my friend`s privacy: I have reflected further on our visit today, and maybe this insight might help us both a little.... It is exhausting though, that upper middle class judgment that I get from others: I didn't succeed because I didn't work hard enough, didn't try hard enough, etc. I did not have the resources that a lot of others have taken for granted and while I was struggling just to survive another day, nor was there anyone around to help guide me to them, because no one in my family or elsewhere would lift so much as a finger to help me, neither were they usually able to (except my father, who was too selfish, and preferred to help my brother pay for his drug habit, and he confessed this to me on our final visit), while others were able to just coast through life on their privilege. Them's the facts of life with me: no supportive family, no money, no social or professional connections, completely on my own, and often too exhausted to do more than just get past another day. Not complaining. That's the way it happened. There are lots of people like me. I have done the best I possibly could with what I have had to work with in life. We all do, you know. Life is not always fair, not even in dear lovely Canada...…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………….. It isn't the Hindu, or Buddhist faiths (even if they do not resonate with me) that I have an issue with, but what I have come to call the whole mindfulness industry (or mindlessness) which takes what I see to be a consumerist approach to spirituality for driven middle class professionals. I'm sure some people benefit from it, and I'm happy for them, but for me it's something different from the Hindu and Buddhist faiths that that industry claims to derive from, and of course if there is a way to satirize anything, even my own precious Christian faith, I will do it (and often have) and with pleasure. My own take on adhering to any religious faith, be it Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, or whatever, is that it is best done when you have given it your all, not for your own personal benefit and wellbeing (that's where the consumerist detail plays in), but to devote your life to serving the Creator and/or the universe with all you have and are, and by extension to love and serve humanity and the planet. This isn't to diss the many of us who turn to religion and spirituality for our own healing (I remember here Jesus' words, "Come unto me, all of you who are burdened and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.") but there must be also a very central element of servanthood or I am going to find it questionable to say the least. This is not a judgment on anyone, but an observation honed over decades of life experience, and I also admit to being guilty as charged. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………. I was referring to the mindfulness industry that's sprung around this neurotic and angst-ridden age, not mindfulness itself. I admit that I am really fatigued from the overuse of the term, I don't question its validity, just the way it has become so very, shall we say, de mode, or au courant? I actually have a different name for it. I call it "Prayer." I've been practicing it for decades...………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………….. I wasn't really questioning the merits of mindfulness, but trying to emphasize the importance of embracing a faith or spiritual practice that is centred on serving the Creator, however he/she/it is conceived, and by extension, humankind, and not simply as a way of fulfilling a personal need. Which is what I mean about spiritual consumerism. As for the concept of mindfulness. I would consider myself noncommittal and I am happy to stay that way. There are many different kinds and experiences of prayer. My experience is very engaged, God always is very real for me, and everything I have heard and read about mindfulness corresponds to my experience of prayer. When the Holy Spirit is truly present then something quite remarkable occurs. Unfortunately, some people who pray don't seem to have the Spirit's experience. It is not simply talking to an invisible deity, but being receptive to the presence of God and dwelling with the divine. Scientific research has been done on prayer and it has been found that virtually the same things happen in the brain as with mindfulness. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………………………………. For me, mindfulness, or whatever you want to call it is a non-issue. I'm more interested in faith and spiritual practices that are engaged with others in service and love in action. Jesus is central to my life and always will be.