A subject that I come back to over and over is the challenge of living in the moment.
I have had a couple of experiences in the past 24 hours that are helping me to see how to actually do this. Yesterday, I went to Lake Carnegie near where I live in order to get a break from studies, baby-anticipation, and all the noise of life. I sat on a wall overlooking the lake and took a deep breath. I thought to myself, "This is living in the moment." What was different about that moment? I wasn't thinking about any upcoming school assignments or obligations to anybody. My only focus was on the cool breeze, beautiful trees, and honking geese. That was living in the moment.
Another moment occurred last night when my daughter was trick or treatin (is that a phrase a verb?). She came out from an apartment and said, "Daddy, I want to go to more houses!" She was enjoying simply receiving candy. I saw her joy and I paused. That was living in the moment.
Finally, I just went for a short walk. During the walk, I reflected on a sermon that I heard in theology class yesterday based on "For it is by grace that you have been saved." The sermon was by Karl Barth and at one point he focused on having a carefree approach to life that results from living under God's grace. He challenged the audience to ask for grace. I asked for grace on my walk. I asked for help in the area of living in the moment. A few minutes later I noticed a leaf falling. I grabbed it. I realized that if I hadn't been simply living in the moment then I would have missed that leaf. I wasn't thinking days, hours, or even minutes ahead.
That was living in the moment.
I need to be more open to moments like that. What "leaves" am I missing?
Yes, that ending sounded like a bad sermon ending but the question still stands... :)
1 comment:
Lee,
I just read all your blog entries from October forward to try and catch up. I was most struck by this post so I felt I would comment.
I think this post identifies a big gapping hole in Christianity that only appears as a small tear. I am realizing how incredibly subtle satan can be in his attacks. Busyness and always being task oriented may be one of his most subtle but effective attack methods, at least in my life.
What I feel like we are blind to is awareness. Awareness of God's beauty all around us, of how He is in complete control, about how He does care in the most stressful of times, about how He looks at your heart in all occasions especially in acts of kindness/service. God is so great and so vast and so wide, yet He is put in the size of box that we choose in our own ignorance. Sometime the box even gets lost under the bed for a few days.
Summary: These moments of "pause" are crucial to our relationship with Christ. It is a relationship, not a system of rules.
Book Reference: 'Windows of the Soul' by Ken Gire speaks well to this topic
Can you tell that this struck a chord with me? I feel jazzed up.
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