CHURCH

Went to church for the first time this year.

Maybe it's because I went in with filtered lenses, but I kept noticing little questionable things that happened throughout the service. When I told mum about these things, she said it is the devil trying to trick and manipulate me. This theory did not help at all in explaining anything.

Other than that, I found the sermon itself to be quite good. The sermon was basically about mindfulness – being aware of the present, being attentive of reality...etc. From what I know (and also a quick check on Wikipedia), this concept of mindfulness originates from Buddhism.

I guess all religions are similar in that they try to promote a healthy state of mind. And even as a non-religious practice, according to Wikipedia, "mindfulness" and this way of thinking/being has been popularised and practiced in clinical psychology since the 1970's. But it seems that overall, mindfulness is more often associated with Buddhism – mindfulness being a fundamental part of this religion and one of the key teachings of the Buddha.

Anyway, it was good and interesting to listen to this being taught in a Christian context. The speaker somewhat smoothly linked this to Christianity by highlighting a verse in the bible.