In many Eastern religions and philosophies exists the concept of living "in the present" or "in the now." If you say it out loud, you risk sounding like a Hippie or a New Ager or (God forbid) an artist.But I've come to the very clear understanding that this idea of living right in the moment isn't just for gurus and Vegans. While I strived for many years as a Buddhist to attain this moment-by-moment lifestyle, more often than not, I failed miserably at it. However, as a Catholic newly reintegrated back into the Church, I have found this to be an essential part of living fully in the light of God, attaining God's peace, and understanding what is truly important. Of course, it's not something the Catholic or most Christian Churches explicitly teach, per se, although plenty of Christian Mystics experienced and wrote at length about this aspect of prayer and spiritual life. But I believe it is part of what Yeshua the Messiah taught: not worrying about the future, instead trusting in the providence of God, because when we do this, it frees us to be Present.
What does it mean to be Present? Why is it important? I can only speak of my own experience, in which I find God in that space of "Now," that which is not obsessing about what's coming, or perseverating over what's past. There is an openness, a spaciousness that is always there, always waiting, if only I let go of Time. It's a very narrow door, a slip of an opening, whereas the Future and the Past appear with wide arches, neon lights, flashing signs, and promises of fullness, all inviting me to live there, wasting away in worry or regret, or even in dreams and nostalgia.
Learning from the past is one thing; trying to live there is another. Having goals for the future is one thing, making intricate plans that inspire anxiety and control behaviors is another.But if I slip through the tiny opening of Now, I find myself in a spacious, wealthy, glorious place, where my soul can touch God, and I can feel God's smile, joy, playfulness, serenity, and passion.
By the way, I'm not the first person to suggest this:
Luk 13:24 "Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
| Mat 7:13 |
Some people talk about listening to their inner voices, or their gut instincts, or their higher selves. Me, I call that God's Wisdom within me. But no matter what you call it, the only place you'll find it and hear it is in the Present Moment.
The other beautiful thing about being Present is that only here can you truly be with another. How many times have we pretended to listen, or not really cared, or just not connected to the person in front of us telling her story? How many times did we feel the person we tried to connect to wasn't Present for us? Hundreds of opportunities come to us to be Present with other beings, and to share in their experience, either of joy or suffering, or to be available to help them in a way that only we could uniquely fulfill.
How many homeless people have we passed and not truly recognized as part of our world because we weren't Present? How many tragedies have we glossed over in the paper or on the news because allowing that pain and suffering into our personal Now is more than we can bear? Or what about our own personal pain and suffering...do we hide from it, douse it, bury it, inebriate it? Only by being Present with that experience can we learn from it, and we do learn, we do, by opening ourselves to God's Wisdom (or whatever you personally choose to call it).
The Present Moment is a gift we rarely seem able to accept; it is a place we seem to avoid, but in reality, it is where we live most fully, connected to Divinity and to Humanity, of ourselves and of others. It is sharing in or living in the Messiah, being both Divine and Human.
Next time, in Part II, "Where is the Now and How Do I Get There?"
