Jon Kabat-Zinn, an American educator once remarked: “Mindfulness is about love and loving life. When you cultivate this love, it gives you clarity and compassion for life, and your actions happen in accordance with that.” Acts 17:29 reminds us: “Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.”
The clarity of mindfulness can be associated with a state of mental sharpness where one can think clearly, focus attentively, and process information efficiently without feeling bewildered or enraptured, essentially allowing for rational decision-making and a clear understanding of situations. It includes maintaining a positive nucleus or unclouded mind. It allows a person to remove the personal clutter of life that can densely fog perceptiveness, or inhibit vision. Life is often busy and sometimes intrusive. It frequently restricts the necessary freedom to take a step back from daily encounters that create little scope to breathe the necessary fresh air that may provide new perspectives or vision. In a religious context, clear thinking is seen as an essential component that can open the doorway to a deeper understanding and relationship with God.
1 Timothy 2:1-13 reminds us: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness - with good works. Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing - if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.”
Clarity of mind could be considered as an essential search for nourishment. It seeks the food necessary, not only to sustain but to provide the purpose that we hopefully wish to derive from life. It refutes the lies, or obstacles that can hinder forward progression and seeks the truth. John 16:1-15 reminds us: “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
Enrapturement, although usually considered beneficial by many, can in some respects lead to negative consequences. Deviation from the truth of life may occur if the captivation that it encourages is so powerful, or intense that it becomes obsessive, distracting or leads to a loss in critical thinking ability or clarity of vision. Psalm 119:118 reminds us: “You spurn all who go astray from your statutes, for their cunning is in vain.”
Clarity of mind releases any wrongful captivation and allows for clear thought processes. It aids better communication with concepts and ideas that are concisely formulated and backed by understanding and good knowledge. It encourages a superior understanding of God, by focused and open receptiveness to spiritual teachings and experiences. It aids in the teaching of others. L. Lionel Kendrick, an American teacher and clergyman once remarked: “Christlike communications are expressions of affection and not anger, truth and not fabrication, compassion and not contention, respect and not ridicule, counsel and not criticism, correction and not condemnation. They are spoken with clarity and not with confusion. They may be tender or they may be tough, but they must always be tempered.”
In Christianity, mindfulness is often considered a gift from God. It creates a sound intelligence of discernment and truth. 2 Timothy 1:3-14 reminds us: “I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.”
Clear insight may encourage a distant vision and realization as to what is possible in the future. It incorporates a complete understanding and a transparent innovation of feasible future situations. Matthew 24:29-31 reminds us: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
Amen.
