Mindfulness will never be enough
Christianity Today
July 10, 2026
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freestocks / Unsplash
As this summer started, I slipped into spiritual sleepiness. For the last nine months of the school year, I’d served as editor for my college newspaper, vice president for a club, and a residence life leader, all while working several part-time jobs. In my exhaustion, God sustained me through the Psalms. I was physically exhausted, but alert to his goodness.
The slower pace of summer let my body rest. But it also deceived me into thinking I didn’t need to rely on the Lord. I rushed through my quiet time. Anxiety nipped at my heels. I was irritable with loved ones.
As I struggled, an employer from my Christian university started emailing our team encouraging “check-ins.” The emails focused on paying attention and provided several poems to meditate on. The first: “Pay attention. / Be astonished. / Tell about it.” The second: “An old silent pond… / Into the pond the frog jumps. / Splash! Silence again.” The messages closed with several suggested “spiritual practices,” including 10-minute walks and writing a haiku.
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I tried walking but still felt anxious and irritable. Frog-themed haikus weren’t going to cut it.
It was only when I returned to the Bible—specifically to passages in Acts reminding me to ask for prayer from fellow believers to receive the Holy Spirit—that I found the help I needed.
Mindfulness trends are widely popular including among Gen Z Christians, and not for no reason. Spending time in nature, doing breath work, practicing silence, and journaling next to a nice cup of coffee do often set us up for spiritual success. Done rightly, these practices allow us to hear God’s voice in a frenzied world, forcing slowness, gratitude, and prayerful reflection.
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Psalm 46:10 commends stillness. Paul justifies biblical meditation, encouraging believers to think about “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable … excellent or praiseworthy” (Phil. 4:8).
But mindful young Christians must also use discernment. Are the practices they adopt doctrinally sound? Do they stray into syncretism? “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ,” Colossians 2:8 warns.
Some mindfulness practices promote the divinity of the self or focus on “emptying” the mind rather than directing our focus toward God. Some meditative exercises teach participants to strive toward peace, something Christians receive freely as a gift from Christ (John 14:27).
Even mindfulness practices that aren’t spiritually suspect can set up unrealistic expectations. Online, these rituals are beautiful: accompanied by a sunrise, matcha, and calligraphy that rivals the frosted writing on a Costco birthday cake. This elegance reveals our God-given urge to create beauty in our everyday lives, including as we read the Bible or pray.
But a pretty drink or a lovely backdrop aren’t prerequisites to encounter the Lord. In fact, pressure to maintain an aesthetic quiet time can actually disrupt our time with God. Moses met God on a mountain, and David on his bed (Ex. 34:2; Ps. 63:6). Jesus sought God while fasting in a barren wasteland (Matt. 4:1–2).
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So do your quiet time on the beach at sunset … and in your basement at the crack of dawn before your 8 a.m. class. Underline that verse with your Retro 51 Tornado or with a sticky mechanical pencil you found wedged under a couch cushion. Reading the Bible doesn’t need to be pretty, but it needs to happen.
That’s an important reminder even in Christian environments like my university. Before some classes, I’m encouraged to “center” myself or sit in silence. No prayer or Scripture! In trainings, I’m told to encourage anxious students with grounding exercises, to note the shades of green in the grass and the texture of the ground beneath them. When I ask classmates how they spend time with God, Scripture is a much rarer response than nature walks.
While creation does reveal God’s nature, its witness alone is insufficient for life in Christ. It’s vulnerable to distortion and corrupted by sin. “Receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls,“ James 1:21 says (ESV here and below). Nature points to our condition, but Scripture reveals our Savior. It alone is sufficient: “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isa. 40:8).
Anyone can journal or stroll silently on a hiking path. But the Bible uniquely marks Christians as disciples of Jesus. “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,” Jesus promised (John 8:31–32). Scripture is the source that revives our souls and makes us wise, warns and rewards us. It’s more desirable than gold, and sweeter than honey (Ps. 19:10).
The Word of God also equips the saints for righteous living. “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you,” the psalmist proclaims in Psalm 119:11. The Bible provides guidance (Ps. 119:105); training (2 Tim. 3:16–17); encouragement (Rom. 15:4); and spiritual growth (1 Pet. 2:2). Grounding can’t say the same.
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The glory of Scripture doesn’t make Christian mindfulness practices useless. But Gen Z Christians’ time in the Word should precede and motivate these exercises. Colossians depicts even explicitly religious practices like worship overflowing from a spiritual tank brimming with Scripture. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col. 3:16).
All of life can be worshipful. But that doesn’t mean all kinds of contemplation are equally edifying or that aesthetics trump truth.
When I’m feeling distant from the Lord, I might go for a walk. But I’ll hit my knees for prayer first. When I’m stressed, some deep breaths are nice. But my first line of defense is still the Psalms.
Sadie Maples is the 2026 Gene Habecker Fellow at CT.
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