getting mindful

i read in a magazine yesterday that i need to start Thinking Mindfully.
i got tips on Walking Meditation
(focusing on one aspect of walking, such as
my feet touching the ground,
whilst walking in slow circles),

Body Meditation
(focusing on the sensations in my toes,
right on up to my head, and
imagining my breath reaching in to each part
and then out my nose,
whilst lying down)

and even Raisin Meditation
(observing a raisin,
and everything it causes me to feel,
before and while tasting, chewing;
making a conscious decision when to swallow).

these, the article claimed, will help me to alleviate stress,
improve my immune response,
avoid over-eating,
bring Balance,
and generally Improve the Quality of My Life.

now. being a Comfortably Christian Girl, i must admit that a part of me
automatically rejects anything marked "Meditation".
still, the article had a point.
if we were all Mindful about the way we walked,
talked, moved, felt, ate,
we would all be Better People.

so, tonight as i did my little Broom Dance,
i thought and thought.
that word, "Meditation", was sticking to something in my heart.

"In the way of Your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on Your precepts and fix my eyes on Your ways.
I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word."
Psalm 119:14-16

God wants me to meditate, all right -- but raisins are just peanuts!

"I am speaking the truth in Christ --
I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit --
that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ
for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh."
- Paul, Romans 9:1-3

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:
to visit orphans and widows in their affliction,
and to keep oneself unstained from the world."
James 1:27

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us also lay aside every weight, and the sin which clings so closely,
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."
Hebrews 12:1,2

Jesus: Temple-cleanser.
Jesus: leper-lover.
Jesus: sinner-sitter.
Jesus: Man of Sorrows.

can we really be a bunch of stress-free, toe-sensation-focusing people?
maybe -- but hopefully not at the price of an outward focus.

i'm not sure that Balance is the first thing Jesus is asking me to strive for.

because i'm not Home yet.