When we decide to contemplate Christ and make an attempt to live moment by moment in His presence, we hope there is a spiritual benefit in our experience. We want to see positive results for our effort and wish to have the affirmation that God is pleased with us. However, the act of contemplation and Mindful Christianity is not practicing meditation or prayer for spiritual gain but for the awareness of no longer being separated from God.
Contemplation centers our hearts in Christ by letting go of thoughts that trap our minds in the past and releasing the beliefs that create fear for our future. We also mistakenly believe that when we meditate and contemplate God, we will have a spiritual experience that will lift us above the fray here on earth and give us a spiritual insight into how to avoid the everyday struggles of life. However, contemplative prayer and Mindful Christianity are not about earning brownie points with God and that nothing will ever go wrong in our lives.
For those who find God through contemplative and meditative practice, the reward is the awareness of being united in the presence of God, no longer held hostage by our history or unknown futures. Spiritual fulfillment is the discovery when we turn loose of our past and no longer are worried about our future; there is nothing that compares to living in the presence of “The Resurrected Christ” in the here and now.
What we do and what action we take in life comes from an understanding that we can be still and know that God is eternally present and walks hand in hand with us at any given moment. This very moment may not feel unique to you, but the present moment is the only real-time in our lives. When we are mindful of the presence of God, it will always be the best moment of our life because we are aware of His presence and have everything we need to make it.
It is a sign of spiritual maturity to accept the present moment as God’s will for what is happening to us. When we learn to live in the moment, we are no longer isolated, alone, and separated from God, and the acceptance of that truth produces eternal blessing and hope in our lives.
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