By Millie Kim

When I think about mindfulness, I often think about a tool to calm anxiety in the postmodern era or a fad that groovy Californians are promoting recently. Most people are familiar with mindfulness, and a lot of people tried mindful eating, mindful walking, and mindful reading, etc… The key to mindfulness is presence and awareness. 

I venture to say that mindfulness existed as long as humans existed. It did not begin with Siddhartha; it did not begin with Lao Tzu, either. It is not just Eastern practice; it is found in every religion. It comes from our fundamental human need to be in relationship, that is, to know and to be deeply known. 

It is amazing that our God is called, “I AM” and our Savior is called, “Emmanuel.” In their name, mindfulness is fully manifested. God who is the ultimate presence itself and God who is with us all the time! Maybe to become fully human means to become mindful of the presence of God and that presence is with us always?

Millie L. Kim is an elder in the United Methodist church and pastors a church in Rome, Georgia. She has been in ministry over 25 years and has worked tirelessly to bring equity and inclusion in the church.