Tag / Christian

nativity scene reflects Christmas
by Karen Twinem

Start Advent With a Christmas Pledge

As the first week of Advent begins, decide to enjoy the season with Christian mindfulness. I always take a Christmas Pledge.

I wrote this down decades ago, and I can’t find the source online.  It has served me well.

The Christmas Pledge

  1. To remember those people who truly need my gifts.
  2. To express my love for family and friends in more direct ways that presents.
  3. To re-dedicate myself to the spiritual growth of my family.
  4. To examine my holiday activities in light of the true spirit of Christmas.
  5. To initiate one act of peacemaking within my circle of family and friends.

You can fulfill the pledge in many ways:

  • Give a Christmas present from your family to World Vision or another charity. You can have the youngest children pick out what the gift can be. We gave chickens last year.
  • Prepare a blessing bag with a Christmas card or other Christmas twist to give to the homeless you see. To learn more about blessing bags, click here.
  • Give a warm handwritten note to those you love most.
  • Introduce Advent activities into your Christmas calendar.
  • Go through your list of “must do” events to see if they reflect your values.
  • Reach out to family members and neighbors who voted differently than you did.

Advent can be the quiet holiday you crave. You have to view it through the lens of Christian mindfulness, or you will be swept along with the secular tide. A holy Advent season will lead to a happier new year.

by Karen Twinem

More Thanks, Less Stuffing

Thanksgiving is America’s greatest unique contribution to celebrations. Ideally we stop, reflect and give thanks for all the blessings we’ve received. More often, we stuff ourselves and watch football. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Long ago, I decided to turn Thanksgiving into a 10-day celebration of gratitude. More thanks, less stuffing. This brings a dose of mindfulness and generosity into the holiday. It’s an easy plan, and it’s made a big difference for me.

10 Days Before Thanksgiving: Thank the people at home, pointing out their best qualities.

9 Days Before: Send thank you cards to people who have been especially important in your life this year. Think of relatives, special friends, authors, ministers, doctors and service providers.

8 Days Before: Put up your Thanksgiving decorations. Start a gratitude pumpkin, as pictured above.

7 Days Before: List your blessings this year and thank God for them.

Saturday Before: Watch a movie about Thanksgiving or one that celebrates gratitude. We often watch Thanksgiving episodes of TV shows. Our favorites are “Turkeys Away'” from “WKRP in Cincinnati” and “Giblets for Murray” on “Mad About You.” (Both involve airborne turkeys.) For a list of 10 great episodes from USA Today, click here.

Sunday Before: Contribute to a food pantry or charity serving the hungry.

Monday Before: Spend 30 minutes thanking God for answered prayers.

Tuesday Before: Make a place card for each person coming to your dinner, stating why you are thankful for them.

Wednesday Before: Pray to God for things you haven’t received yet.

If you have the opportunity to attend a church service for Thanksgiving, put it on your calendar!

Gratitude is a key component to a happy life. And it’s essential to the Christian walk. I would love to hear any other traditions that you use to fill the Thanksgiving holidays with more thanks. I might even adopt some of them!

by Karen Twinem

Using Loved Ones as Mindfulness Bells

Your mindfulness bell can talk to you. And ask for things. And even be difficult at times. How? Just decide to use a loved one … your spouse, your child or even a pet … as a mindfulness bell.

A mindfulness bell is a sound that reminds you to stop and turn your attention to the present moment … to the person in front of you. Like many people, I’ve had apps to schedule mindfulness bells during the day. 10 a.m., noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m. … like that.

Having your bell be the sound of a selected person is different. You never know when they will want your attention. So, when they speak to you, you practice Christian mindfulness:

  • Stop
  • Take a breath
  • Ask for God’s presence and help
  • Focus all your attention on loving the person

This idea came from reading “The Mindful Family Guidebook: Reconnect With Spirit, Nature, and the People You Love.” Its author, Dr. Renda Dionne Madrigal, is a Turtle Mountain Chippewa, a clinical psychologist and a certified mindfulness teacher. She sees mindfulness from an indigenous American viewpoint, which has many differences from my own.

Her idea of using your child as a mindfulness bell appealed deeply to me. Dr. Madrigal calls this “an informal stopping-and-noticing practice.” Just as many of us stop and pay attention when our phone app (or even the telephone) rings, Dr. Madrigal suggests we stop and pay full attention when our child wants us.

My children are grown. I’ve decided to use the practice with my husband and a very shy cat.

Don’t have the experience of stopping for a mindfulness bell? Dr. Madrigal suggests that you try an app for a few weeks to get used to it. A good one is the Insight Timer app.

It’s easy to pretend that you don’t hear the 14th call of the day. And it’s easy to feel that your tasks are more important than a mindful response to someone else’s need. But doing this will exercise your attentiveness muscle while building your ability to live in the moment.

by Karen Twinem

Feel God’s Love

Do you feel that God loves you? Really feel it?

I’ve struggled with that over the decades of my life. A way to make God’s love feel more real came in a booklet from Renovare. This Christian nonprofit provides resources to help people feel the fullness of life in God through spiritual practices.

The booklet, “Learning to Hear God: Two Listening Exercises” opens with wisdom from the nonprofit’s co-founder, Dallas Willard. You can obtain a PDF or a copy of the booklet by clicking here.

The first exercise, written by Trevor Hudson, guides us in creating a “beloved charter.” This is a statement composed of Scriptures about God’s love for us. In the exercise, Hudson has us slowly read Scriptures that remind us of how God loves us. You can use Hudson’s list or select your own, perhaps using a Bible promise book.

Some of the scriptures that Hudson included are:

  • 1 Samuel 16: 7
  • Psalm 139: 13-16
  • Matthew 6: 25-26
  • Luke 12: 6-7
  • Romans 5: 6-8
  • Romans 8: 28
  • Ephesians 2: 4-8
  • Titus 3: 4-7

Another list of verses is found here on biblestudy.com.

Look through the verses and see which ones speak to you. Then convert any general language to specific language that sounds like God speaking directly to you. Use the phrases in those verses to weave together a statement of how God feels about you.

This is mine: The Lord my God is with me, a mighty one who saves. He rejoices over me with gladness. He quiets me by his love. He exults over me with loud singing. He strengthens and helps me. Even the hairs of my head are all numbered.

I printed the statement and put it on my desk. So I see it when I sit down to work. It’s a good reminder that God loves each of us. Especially you. Especially me.

by Karen Twinem

Three Books to Survive a Turbulent Election: A Book Guide

Three books are helping me through the hard times of this election cycle: “Trusting God in the Present” by Fr. Jacques Philippe and “Centering Prayers: A One-Year Daily Companion for Going Deeper into the Love of God” by Peter Traben Haas. The second author has just released a Volume 2 of “Centering Prayers,” with the subtitle “Daily Peace for Turbulent Times.”

Fr. Philippe’s book is called “your spiritual direction manual to trusting God in the midst of difficult times.” Only 50 pages, the book points out that hard times push us to a stronger, more vibrant commitment to God. It has a 4.8 rating out of 5 stars on Amazon and a 4.6 rating on Goodreads.

Fr. Philippe offers practical and wise answers for our concerns when the world seems to be a mess. For example, he challenges our typical questions to God, especially during hard times. Why is this happening, for example. Do we need to know the answer to that question to live our lives today? The author says probably not.

Instead, Fr. Philippe suggests that we accept the situation and ask instead: “What does God want of me here? What is the right way to live through this? … What good, depending on me, can I do today that no one else can do?”

Even in the worst situations, he says, “we can discover a good to be accomplished, a step to be taken for our own personal progress.” Fr. Philippe encourages each of us to adopt an attitude of responsibility rather than to feel like a victim. Then God can step in to help us:

  • Accept the reality of the difficult situation
  • Change our questions to those that will give us actionable answers
  • Take one step at a time mindfully
  • Discover the answers as they emerge

It goes without saying that we invite God into the situation with us. Walking mindfully through it one step at a time is Christian mindfulness at work.

I also recommend Peter Traben Haas’ two prayer books with a short daily prayer that helps to open us up to God so He can reframe our attitudes. I’ve been using the books at the end of centering prayer each morning. His prayers are beautiful, and I plan to continue even after the election drama ends. The first prayer book has a 4.6 rating on Amazon and a 4.5 on Goodreads.

Here’s an example:

God of Liberation and Connection: Your love anoints my life with the charism of joy. I see how much you help me be more than just me. Your love is a fusion molding me into a we. Amen

What are the books and resources that are getting you through hard times? I’d love to know.

woman deep breathing
by Karen Twinem

Breathe in Serenity

Christian mindfulness is a certain path toward serenity, and yet anxiety can still suddenly overwhelm us. Often it’s an understandable response to a bad situation. Before you can think to say “I trust you, God,” you drop head-first into an ocean of dread.

Breathing with intention is the best response. After all, you have to breathe it anyway. So using Christian mindfulness as you breathe calms you down while quickly reconnecting you to God’s presence. The technique is simple.

  • Stop and sit down. (If you are feeling dizzy, lie down and close your eyes.)
  • Set an alarm for at least five minutes.
  • Invite God to sit with you.
  • Breathe slowly and deeply, in and out. Pay full attention to your breathing. As thoughts arise, offer them up to God as prayers and return to concentrating on your breath.
  • When the alarm rings, offer a prayer of thanksgiving for your ability to breathe.
  • And return to practicing the presence of God.

This practice does wonders. It underpins many Christian mindfulness exercises in this blog.

One point of caution: If you have a daily challenge with severe anxiety, it’s important to your soul, as well as the rest of you, to seek medical help. Generalized anxiety disorder is a diagnosable condition. You can get help with medicine and therapy to stop the storms swirling in your brain.

Jesus has given us the gift of His peace, unlike any other kind in the world. Intentional breathing exercises help us calm down and welcome back His presence after a big upset.

by Karen Twinem

When God Says “Stop and Rest”

I thought I was giving my all for Christ. But my blood pressure got to 198/93. I got shingles. And my left foot was numb. So God said something unexpected: Stop and rest.

Life has been very difficult since I got a spinal fusion last spring. The recovery looks fine on x-ray. But my whole left side has been in terrible pain. The latest possibility is nerve root inflammation. Who knew my nerves had roots?

Before I got to the neurologist, my ex-husband died, alone and friendless. This is the fellow who tried to kill me in 1985, abused our kids and continued to be verbally abusive to me up to our last telephone call.

Unfortunately the police found his body in a motel in our town, far from our oldest child. I knew God wanted me to help my child with the cremation, private family service and collection of his property. So I did. The price was high.

But then God told me to stop and rest … through my husband, my spiritual director and pastor and private prayer. In fact, He also told me to do something I really love: to enjoy Him. I do enjoy God, especially when I pray, practice His presence, read about Him and … yes … rest in Him. My beloved spiritual director suggested that I give up my service to the church for a year to get back into good condition. So I am.

How does it look to rest every day? For someone with my over-active sense of responsibility and fear of laziness, it’s a challenge. I’ll bet it’s a challenge for you, too. Even those of us who regularly practice a Sabbath, may have a hard time figuring it out.

The how is a two-step process:

  • Figure out how you’ll rest.
  • Figure out when you’ll rest.

Block out 15 minutes on your schedule every day to relax and do what makes you calm: a walk outside, a breathing exercise inside, just sitting outdoors or anything else. You can be alone or with someone else. Just stop and rest.

If you are working, you can rest in a lightly used restroom. You can close your office door. You can rest during lunch. You can stay 15 minutes later to rest before going home. If you are home in the midst of family life, you can go outside. Sit in the car. Close the bedroom door before or after dinner. You can do it! Enjoy God. Every day.

Jesus invited his disciples to “come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while” when the ministry got especially busy. (Mark 6:31) And as Isaiah 30: 15a says: “For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel has said, ‘In repentance and rest you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength.’ ” Let’s trust the Lord enough to give ourselves 15 minutes of rest a day.

by Karen Twinem

Remember Hiroshima

Today is the 79th anniversary of the United States dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Then, a few days later, we dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Although we had some idea about the kind of death and devastation it would cause.

Mahatma Gandhi said at the time that these bombs would make peace a necessity. Peace has not come.

And, as the World War II generation around the world dies off, actual memories about the two actual uses of atomic bombs die, too. It’s more important than ever to learn about these events so we do not duplicate them.

Christian mindfulness calls for prayer and fasting today as a way to express sorrow over the deaths of these two cities and a combined 226,000 civilians. We as Americans in particular have an obligation to be responsible for making a more peaceful world.

Here is a prayer of lament and repentance:

Above the clamor of our violence, your word of truth resounds, O God of majesty and power. Over nations enshrouded in despair, your justice dawns.

Grant your household a discerning spirit and a watchful eye to perceive the hour in which we live. Hasten the advent of that Day when the weapons of war shall be banished, our deeds of darkness cast off, and all your scattered children gathered into one.

We ask this through him whose coming is certain, whose day draws near: your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

“Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers”
by Karen Twinem

Breathe With God

The primary Christian mindfulness practice is to breathe with God. An underlying part of many spiritual exercises, it also is a quick way to reconnect with God, restore inner peace and lower stress.

The four-part process is as simple as breathing. With intention and attention, of course.

  1. Turn your full attention to the exercise.
  2. Invite God into this exercise and ask Him to bless it.
  3. Breathe in and out slowly for the next five minutes, using your Jesus prayer, breath prayer or mantrum.
  4. As you finish, express gratitude to God for this moment.

Click here to learn more about selecting a Jesus prayer or mantrum.

This exercise can be done anywhere, at any time and around anyone. You can quickly breathe in and out without attracting attention to yourself. It brings you back into the present moment in the presence of God. That is the very definition of Christian mindfulness.

close up photo of an aching man holding his shoulder
by Karen Twinem

Practicing God’s Presence in Chronic Pain: My Journey with Arthritis and Spinal Fusion

“I dedicate my arthritis including the disability, chronic pain and upcoming surgery to you, oh Lord. I wish to reflect well on your kindness, patience, loving behavior and peace as I suffer with this condition. May your will be done about my energy level and mobility. Show me your path for me, and grant me the graces necessary to display Christ-like behavior to others.”

I wrote this about four months ago as I faced spinal fusion (Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion on L4-L5, to be specific). While my back has been healing well, chronic pain developed in my feet. It turns out that tight muscles in your calf can cause an unstable and very painful midfoot condition called metatarsalia.

I knew I had lots of arthritis when I agreed to the surgery. It’s in my hands, my neck, other places in my back, my knees, and evidently my feet. I dedicated my behavior with chronic pain to serving God. But I don’t think I realized how chronic the pain would be … making me unable to walk at all without orthotics, causing me to consider using the family wheelchair.

This experience has taught me to practice the presence of God in chronic pain. To do that, I have had to continually overcome other effects of chronic pain:

  • The continual hunt for help onIine.
  • The search for shoes that don’t hurt. (I now get two emails a day from OrthoFoot.)
  • Frantic purchases of items for at-home care. (I now have a massage gun and have ordered a kit for cupping my legs.)
  • The presence of “massage, stretch and ice” on my to-do list (three times a day).

Will this go away? I don’t know. Will God go away? Never.

I had to slow down, to take one task at a time. But the way I practice the presence of God remains constant.

Five Steps to Practicing the Presence of God

  • Do the next right thing on the task list.
  • Do it mindfully, paying attention to the work as it progresses.
  • Invite God into the situation.
  • Love the people in front of you.
  • Be grateful for as many things as possible while doing the task.

I am grateful that I learned this practice in other hard times, because it automatically transfer to my chronic pain. I hope that you can try it as well if you are suffering.