One of the mindfulness processes is to live in the present moment. This is about being aware of the moment that you are living in at any time. It requires an engagement with whatever is in your vicinity or viewpoint as it is happening. This is well worth practicing but in reality it is quite hard to do. Our minds tend to wander and we get caught in daydreams or reliving past moments or we disengage and walk through life on autopilot as we navigate difficult moments. But even our daydreams can be present focused when we connect to God. I am going to suggest that by connecting with God and hearing His voice I become God’s not-so-secret-agent on this earth. This is such a positive life giving activity that it is worth pursuing God just to hear His voice.

By connecting with God, I bring my focus into the here and now. God is timeless and yet He occupies the present. When we mull on the events of the past; we relive our most painful or traumatic memories or perhaps our sweetest moments, we are not being present focused. Alternatively we can live in our imagination of the future- for example, fearing a catastrophe or building a future empire.  Both of these mind activities detracts from living fully engaged in the present moment unless I bring God into the picture.

The writer of the book of Hebrews described Jesus as the same yesterday today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) Later in the book of Revelations, Jesus calls himself- the Alpha and Omega- a reference to the beginning and the end. These time-based words signify that Jesus as God is unchanging and timeless- He was present at the beginning of time and will be present at the end of time. When I bring my fears of catastrophe to Jesus- I am being present focused. I trust the Unchanging One who knows the future, to have an answer for my fears. I hear words of comfort in my mind – “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5),“My perfect love casts out your fear”(1 John 4:18) and “For I have not given you a spirit of fear but of power, love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7). So I can leave my fears with Jesus and rest on his promises to be with me.

Jesus when he walked on this earth spoke multiple times of only doing what the Father told him to do. When Jesus began his ministry his own family and village were perplexed.  At his inauguration speech in Nazareth, Jesus got up and read from a familiar passage in Isaiah 61. He knew that this was his mission statement. His assignment was written out hundreds of years before by the prophet Isaiah. Jesus was on a mission to do the mandate of his Heavenly Father- to heal the sick, to set free captives, to open blind eyes and make the deaf hear and declare God’s kingdom on earth. But only a few people in his home town understood the significance. Yet Jesus intentionally turned towards his destiny in Jerusalem, as the same prophet Isaiah, foretold of the suffering Messiah who dies to save many (Isaiah 53).

Jesus lived on this earth intentionally in the present moment. He recognised that each day and week and month had an ebb and flow. There were times of increased activity and times of slowing down. He had sick people coming to him at all hours and then he withdrew to a quiet place. There were times of speaking to crowds for hours and missing meals and then times of sailing in a boat for a distant shore. There were times of just walking and talking with his disciples, and then there were times of feasting and enjoying life with new friends in new places.   Yet in all these times Jesus connected with his Heavenly Father. Jesus intentionally embraced his death at the cross to pay the price for our sins with his blood. In doing so Jesus fully completed his mission on earth. Nothing was left undone. “It is finished,” he said from the cross.

When Jesus left this earthly life, he commissioned his followers to do the things he did and even more than he did. He left his disciples to be his agents on this earth. They were open in who and what they were doing so they were not secret.  How do I become God’s not-so-secret agent? Agents need to keep in contact with their “handler” for the most up to date information from headquarters. In the same way I need to have continuous connection with my Heavenly Father through the Holy Spirit residing in me giving me the most up to date information for my day to day tasks.  My mandate from Heaven includes the same things that Jesus did- to heal the sick and to preach the gospel and make disciples, while living an intentional life of a son or daughter of God.

I know that my connection to Jesus is the most important aspect of fulfilling my mandate. Jesus said that if we abide in Him we can do the things He did. But if we don’t abide in Him we are like a branch that is cut off from the vine and doesn’t produce any fruit and we can do nothing (John 15). So my most important Christian mindful task is to abide in Jesus in every moment.

I am aware that each day has a plan for good works that God intends for me to do. I live in the moment by moment realisation that if there is something for me to do then the Holy Spirit will bring it to my attention at the time I need to know and at the place I have the ability to do something about it. It is my intention to be attentive for the prompts from the Holy Spirit. I don’t always succeed in this however.

One day as I was driving to work, I had a daydream about the patient I was about to see. It was quite unusual because in this daydream I was speaking to this person about God and each part of the conversation was shown to me. I thought that the Holy Spirit was prompting me to pray for this person. I don’t usually speak about God in my consulting room and would not do so unless asked by the patient. So I prayed, “Lord if you want me to speak to this man, will you get him to ask me about You?” Then I heard a still small voice, “His mother is praying for him,” and I knew this was the voice of God preparing me to speak to this man.

An hour later as I was finishing my consultation with this man, I asked-“Do you have any questions for me?” He replied, “My mother has been bugging me about faith, what does faith mean to you?” And the next half hour I spoke naturally about God to this confessed atheist. He didn’t change his mind about God that day but went away with alternative ways to consider God.  My prayer is that these words as seeds have been planted into his soul. One day they will sprout into a faith that grows as others water the seeds with their words and finally the Holy Spirit tugs at his soul so convincingly that he finds God for himself.

God transcended the principles of time and gave me a glimpse of something from the future.  This memory has been fixed in my mind of a moment where I became God’s not-so-secret agent to a man who clearly needed to hear that God loved him. God heard his mother’s prayer and organised to show me the conversation with her son ahead of time. I had the opportunity to hear and obey at that moment and I am glad that I did. I haven’t always succeeded so my prayer is to hear God clearly and obey boldly because I know when I do that I cannot fail in my mission.

Are you willing to be God’s not-so-secret agent? It may mean being in a constant connection with your Heavenly Father in prayer. It may mean not being as worried about tomorrow and the things which have yet to happen. It might mean letting go of the endless rumination about the things which have already happened. Be thankful that each day is a new opportunity to connect with the Divine and to be aware that He has a task for you to do that He knows you cannot fail.

I love the colour green. My friends know it and often I am the recipient of green clothes, handbags  and other items for birthday and Christmas presents.  I love to go on holidays to green places full of wonderful plants and scenery.  In my Christian mindfulness I am so thankful for this beautiful planet that God has given us to enjoy. Each fascinating insight into this world brings me a step closer to understanding the Creator God who made it for my enjoyment.

One of the processes that I use during Christian mindfulness meditation is an intentional awareness of my senses. We have 5 physical senses that our body uses to build a picture of the world around us as we navigate life. Our sight – being able to see a visual picture through our eyes and have our brain interpret that image so that it makes sense. Our hearing- being able to hear subtle sounds and detect the sounds of danger and the sounds of safety so that our bodies can interpret language and communication and keep us connected to each other.  Our taste- with this sense concentrated in our mouth to detect which foods are appropriate and to reject foods which may cause harm. Our sense of smell has such an ability to evoke memories and reminders of places of intimacy and safety and comfort. Our sense of touch and feel- which is such an important sense to allow us to move our bodies from danger in an instant, and be tickled or touched intimately. All of these senses are gifts from God to assist with being human and connecting with each other and with God.

As well as physical senses, God has also given us spiritual senses. Jesus spoke many times about the people around him having eyes but not seeing and having ears but not hearing.( Matthew 13:11-17;  John 9:39; John 8:43). The reason Jesus spoke in parables was– that the ones with spiritual eyes and ears would see what he was speaking about and hear what the words meant.  When people ask Jesus to be their Lord and saviour they invite the Holy Spirit to come into their life.  This same Holy Spirit has a spiritual language that he uses to speak to us.  I’m not talking about a divine spiritual gift of tongues but of the language of the Spirit which has a meaning beyond the words that are spoken. Jesus spoke in the language of the Spirit. He spoke of things – very natural things that were a symbol or a metaphor of spiritual truths. So there is a language of the Spirit which if we have ears to hear we will hear it. If we have spiritual eyes we will see it.  So understanding comes into your heart and it brings a turning to Jesus, a repentance from the past and allows a healing to come into your life. In Matthew 13:15 Jesus says “For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.”   NIV

I can connect with Jesus at any time of the day or night. I ask for the Holy Spirit to show me the things that I need to see and to hear the things that I need to hear. I ask for eyes that see the spiritual- the images or the metaphors of the Spirit, and hear the words from the Holy Spirit the language of God  and understand what this truth means. I want spiritual understanding so that my heart is changed and I repent of dead works and turn to Jesus to do works of life that the Holy Spirit leads me to.

I want to finish this blog with a small analogy that I hope has a spiritual significance. I asked the Holy Spirit for some inspiration on what to write and the word “Chlorophyll” came into my mind. I knew that this was from God as it wasn’t something I would have thought of myself.  This is an example of spiritual hearing.  The word Chlorophyll is an example of Spiritual language. God intends for me to know more than the plain definition of that word.

Plants use a chemical called Chlorophyll to convert light energy from the sun into chemical energy for fuel for the plant to enable growth.  Each plant holds these chlorophyll components in their leaves and stems and this imparts a green colour.  We can’t see the conversion of the light energy into chemical energy. It is something that scientists have been able to work out with research and testing. We believe the scientists have proven the existence of Chlorophyll and yet there is still a mystery in this. The plants use dead air full of carbon dioxide and are able in the same process of energy conversion to make clean air- full of oxygen. While the process inside the plant brings about life and growth in the plant it also impacts the world around it by producing oxygen. All of these things are possible because the plant was impacted by light. Plants  leaves follow the sun. They turn to the sun to get the most sunlight possible. Plants compete for the best exposure to the sun to capture the light which then becomes chemical energy and also oxygen.

Right now while I write this blog my family is on holidays in a very green place. It is a tropical location with rain forests and beaches and plenty of green plants of every size and shape. Without exposure to light many plants die off or remain stunted in their growth. But in the light they thrive and impact the environment. We traveled in a cable car yesterday to observe the rain forest canopy and saw plenty of plants which have taken residence in the tops of the rain forest trees. The whole scene was very lush and green.  I took lots of photos until my camera battery died. Just as we were finishing the ride, two beautiful  azure blue butterflies burst out of the canopy into a dance in the sunlight. They were obvious to us as they were of a brilliant blue colour and didn’t blend into the green canopy. I gasped at their blueness and thanked my heavenly Father for making such intricate creatures for my enjoyment at that moment. But I also thanked him for the greenery, the plants that were so abundant in my sight.

You are like a plant. How are you like a plant you may ask? Let me explain. God created you to worship God and to do the good works destined for you. Jesus said he is the light of the world in John 8:12 and that if we follow Jesus we will never walk in darkness. By seeking Jesus, turning to him to be exposed to his light continuously, we too become reflectors of light and Jesus. The colour green in the plants is a reflection. We see green because all the spectrum of colour is being absorbed except the green which is reflected and becomes the colour we see. By following Jesus you too will experience growth and a turning of your dead works into good works that are your destiny to do. You will impact your environment because of the light of life that you have been exposed to. You too will reflect Jesus in all that you do and all that you say. I pray you have spiritual  eyes to see this and spiritual ears to hear these words and to understand in your heart and be healed.

When I was 7 years old I started to read books. I came across C.S Lewis’ Narnia series. I was captivated by the stories of this magical kingdom and its Lion king Aslan. When I read The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe I recognised in this story the similarity of Aslan’s death, to the death and resurrection of Jesus. I saw in Aslan, a Jesus figure who died to save Edmund’s life. I even went to my grade 2 teacher and complained that the author had copied the Bible. She was kind and said that C.S Lewis wrote his story deliberately for children to understand why Jesus died. The teacher called it an allegory. I read the books avidly from that time on and imagined Aslan as my friend just like he was a friend to the 4 children in the story. I imagined Jesus as this big maned lion who speaks in a voice that almost takes your breath away when you hear it. I became a follower of Jesus in that 7^th year of my life.

Who gives you your breath?  Who takes your breath away at the end of your life?  It is God who gives and takes away.  In the Hebrew language of the Bible, the word for breath is closely associated with the word for spirit-Ruach.  When you stop breathing  for the final time, your spirit departs from your body.  So our breath is vital for life, and has been given to us by God just like our spirit comes from God who is a Spirit. In the bible the word for Spirit and breath and wind are sometimes interchangeable.

John 3:8 NIV  The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

John 4:23-24 NIV  “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  God is Spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

Mindfulness meditation focusses on breathing because of the calming effect of slow breathing.  However, I challenge my readers to notice their breath because it is a gift from God.  When I became a follower of Jesus – I also received His Holy Spirit within me as a gift from God.  So my focus when I am being mindful is to thank God for every breath, every inspiration and expiration. Just as Jesus breathed on his disciples to receive the Holy Spirit, I imagine Jesus breathing on me.  By faith I receive the same Holy Spirit. So I can thank God for giving me His Holy Spirit.  I ask the Holy Spirit to flow in my breath and to give me inspiration and revelation.  I don’t focus on my breathing as in other meditative practices-but  I am grateful for my breath and I bring my focus to my Heavenly Father who gave me each breath and the gift of the Holy Spirit. As I grew older I had further experiences with the Holy Spirit which I will write about in later blogs.

I want to finish with a short passage from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe which illustrates breath and life and spirit. If you don’t know the story of the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe- I will give a short summary. Narnia is a magical land where a White Witch has ruled for a very long time and made the seasons always winter.  A prophecy from long ago, has predicted that one day 4 children will come and be crowned kings and queens when Aslan returns. Into this land 4 English children (Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy), stumble as they enter through a magical wardrobe at different times. First Lucy enters and meets a faun called Tumnus who initially wanted to capture her to take her to the witch but then he realises that he really likes Lucy and decides to send her back through the wardrobe. Next Edmund enters and meets the witch who enchants him with sweets and promises to make him a ruler over his brother and sisters. Later when all four children enter Narnia they meet a talking beaver and his wife who warn the children of the dangers of the White Witch. But Edmund decides to go off on his own to find the Palace of the Witch. The other three children realise how dangerous the witch is and they set off to rescue their brother. The witch is very angry and has made her enemies stone. She is desperate to capture the children to stop the prophecy from coming true.  She ties Edmund up and plans to use him against Aslan.

The three children meet Aslan.  Aslan has a showdown with the wicked witch and in the process makes a secret deal to offer himself in exchange for Edmund. The witch ties Aslan to a stone table and slays him with a knife while the two sisters watch from a distance.  Later they weep tears over Aslan’s body as a group of mice come to gnaw at the ropes binding his body. The stone table breaks into two pieces and Aslan comes back to life. The girls hop onto Aslan’s back as they fly through the air to the witch’s palace.

Here they discover all the creatures turned into stone by the witch’s spells. I quote from the book from here on.

“What an extraordinary place!” cried Lucy.  “All these stone animals – and people too! It’s – it’s like a museum.”

“Hush,” said Susan, “Aslan is doing something.”

He was indeed. He had bounded up to the stone lion and breathed on him. Then without waiting a moment he whisked round – almost as if he had been a cat chasing its tail – and breathed also on the stone dwarf, which (as you remember) was standing a few feet from the lion with his back to it. Then he pounced on a tall stone dryad which stood beyond the dwarf, turned rapidly aside to deal with a stone rabbit on his right, and rushed on to two centaurs.  But at that moment Lucy said,

“Oh Susan! Look! Look at the lion.”

I expect you’ve seen someone put a lighted match to a bit of newspaper which is propped up in a grate against an unlit fire. And for a second nothing seems to have happened; and then you notice a tiny streak of flame creeping along the edge of the newspaper. It was like that now. For a second after Aslan had breathed upon him the stone lion looked just the same. Then a tiny streak of gold began to run along his marble back – then it spread – then the colour seemed to lick all over him as the flame licks all over a bit of paper – then, while his hindquarters were still obviously stone, the lion shook his mane and all the heavy, stone folds rippled into living hair. Then he opened a great red mouth, warm and living, and gave a prodigious yawn. And now his hind legs had come to life. He lifted one of them and scratched himself. Then, having caught sight of Aslan, he went bounding after him and frisking round him whimpering with delight and jumping up to lick his face.

Lewis C.S (1950) The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe Pages 152-153 Penguin Books Australia 1979 edition.

I love the imagery used by C.S Lewis in this book. I encourage you to be grateful for every breath you breathe. It is my hope that as Aslan breathes on you- you will be free from the enchanter’s curse, and free to frolic with your King.