Amy G. Oden - Right Here Right Now: The Practice of Christian Mindfulness

AMY G. ODEN

Foreword by Marjorie J. Thompson

The Practice of Christian Mindfulness

RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW:
THE PRACTICE OF CHRISTIAN MINDFULNESS

Copyright 2017 by Abingdon Press

All rights reserved.

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ISBN 978-1-5018-3249-9

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Common English Bible. Copyright 2011 by the Common English Bible. All rights reserved. Used by permission. www.CommonEnglishBible.com.

Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are taken from The Authorized (King James) Version. Rights in the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Reproduced by permission of the Crowns patentee, Cambridge University Press.

Scripture quotations marked (The Message) are taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scripture quotations marked (NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

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MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

For Walker
....

by Marjorie J. Thompson

Back in the 1990s, a series of books featuring magic eyes became popular. Each page of these books presented a colorful mass of indecipherable squiggles and abstract patterns that appeared to be randomly designed. But if you gazed on the image with soft eyesallowing your vision to become slightly blurred and unfocusedan intriguing three-dimensional image would slowly emerge from the two-dimensional surface of the page. A clear and often stunningly intricate image was embedded in what first appeared to be an abstract design. When you got the hang of seeing this way, you could consciously move back and forth between your ordinary perception of each page and the figures hidden within its 2-D surface.

Reading Amy Odens book Right Here Right Now: The Practice of Christian Mindfulness brought to mind my experience of seeing with magic eyes. From the surface jumble of a distracted and distracting culture, from the sometimes confusing diversity of spiritual traditions in our globally connected world, from the variety of spiritual practices and understandings within Christian scripture and history, Amy opens our eyes to an emerging central image. She deftly lifts up a clear template for what lies at the core of all spiritual practice: mindfulnessa simple awareness within ordinary life of divine presence, here and now. Christian mindfulness is the practice of paying prayerful attention in the present moment to Gods abundant life, she writes. For those of us familiar with Brother Lawrences counsel to practice the presence of God in all things, even the most mundane, Odens definition of mindfulness will sound like a fresh angle on the great tradition of Christian contemplation. Not surprisingly, our author does not neglect Brother Lawrence in her overview of Christian saints and mystics who have championed continual awareness of divine presence!

Amy hopes this book may offer a way for Christians to engage more hospitably with people of other faiths or with no faith. Yet her first concern is to help Christians see that while the term may not be found in our scriptures, the essence of mindfulness is deeply embedded in classic Judeo-Christian spiritual teaching and practice. Pointing out that God is always mindful of us (Ps 8:4), the author shows how the biblical invitation for humans to reciprocate in mindfulness of God is expressed in various ways: remembrance of divine constancy; staying awake, or alert to what is really happening; listening deeply having eyes to see and ears to hear, as Jesus repeatedly puts it.

Beyond rooting the essence of mindfulness in Hebrew and Christian tradition, Oden takes care to distinguish from a biblical perspective what is distinctively Christian about this practice. Christian mindfulness is a way to abide in Christ, she observes. Unlike many generic practices of mindfulness now popular in business, education, and the fitness industry, the author underscores that Christian mindfulness is not an end in itself but an awareness that turns us toward God: The goal of Christian mindfulness is... an experience of our lives in God, our true home. Christian mindfulness leads not only to greater physical and mental well-being but clearer discernment of divine activity and guidance, both personally and collectively. Indeed, Oden urges, one of the significant responsibilities of Christians engaged in mindfulness is curating the practice clarifying, interpreting, sifting from its cultural manifestations that which genuinely reflects Christlikeness. She identifies five key marks of the renewal of our minds in Christ: freedom, authenticity, rootedness, gratitude, and open-hearted compassion.

Written in an engaging modern idiom without theological jargon, Amy addresses contemporary issues that will appeal to multiple generations. She speaks to mindfulness in online communication through texting, e-mail, and social media. Importantly, technology is not identified as the enemy but rather our minds way of absorbing and reacting to it. Mindfulness helps to free us from reactivity and fear, an especially timely practice in todays highly polarized sociopolitical climate. Odens segment on mindful social action is also deeply relevant for our day. As we become more awake to ways we participate in unjust systems, and more aware of where God is counteracting our personal and collective destructiveness, we are reminded of who is redeeming this world. Only then can we participate with God in the healing of the world and our own hearts.

This book is eminently practical. Regular prompts to reflection and practice punctuate the writing. Amys introduction to mindful practice is a simple four-step process, easy to understand and follow. The real treasure of this book will come through putting the four steps into habitual practice in daily life, and Oden gives us plenty of avenues for doing so. As the author points out, the book is characterized by a certain level of thematic repetition. She suggests that her readers apply mindful observation to their experience of this aspect of the book. I might further suggest that we allow the repeated ideas to sink into our hearts like the repeated elements of worship liturgy, or the way repeated phrases of scripture can build themselves a little nest in our heartsto borrow a phrase from my early mentor, Henri Nouwen.