Pastoral Engagement in the Mindfulness Movement: Gift, Opportunities, and Challenges

“Mindfulness” is a cultural buzz word these days.  Time Magazine ’s cover story for January 23, 2014, was titled, “The Mindful Revolution,” and the cover story of the most recent issue of Scientific American (Nov. 2014) is “Mind of the Meditator.” In this article the author suggests two ways in which Christians might engage this cultural phenomenon. First, Christians have something important to learn from this cultural movement. Second, Christians have something important to contribute to the mindfulness movement. Christians can gratefully acknowledge and learn from the hundreds of rigorous scientific studies conducted in the past decade that suggest ways that mindfulness practices may provide effective means of improving physical and mental health and connecting to a deeper sense of meaning and compassion in human life. However, Christians also have something essential to contribute to the cultural dialogue regarding mindfulness by drawing upon our own rich theological heritage of prayer and meditation. In the Christian tradition, mindfulness is a tool for cultivating a deeper awareness of and relationship with the Triune God revealed in the person of Jesus Christ and attested to by Scripture. The author concludes by noting that theologians and pastoral ministers have a responsibility to engage in our culture’s interest in mindfulness. The mindfulness movement presents an opportunity to educate baptized Christians and others and invite them into the rich tradition of contemplative prayer in the Christian tradition. Such contributions from the Christian tradition may also help to challenge the mindfulness movement to acknowledge the spiritual roots from which it has evolved. Such contributions may also help to overcome the risk of mindfulness becoming another passing fad or a middle- to-upper class commodity for supporting health and well-being. Christian contemplation teaches persons to embrace imperfection and suffering while remaining committed to the good of all persons and all creation in love. By sharing the fruits of the tradition through education and catechesis and by creating communities that support contemplative prayer, pastoral leaders and theologians may help persons to navigate the challenges of remaining committed to a life of prayer amidst the struggles and sufferings of life in contemporary, late modern cultures.