We spend a lot of time each day somewhere other than in the present moment. Consider how many times a day you have to “get back to what you are doing?” Sometimes we’re somewhere back in the past, perhaps remembering a vacation spot where everyone had such a great time. Or perhaps we are distracted by a recent disagreement we have had with a spouse, a sibling or a co-worker. It happens without effort that while in the middle of doing something our minds take us to so many other places. Whether these “excursions” in our minds are joyful or make fresh some painful memory, they are, in the end, time away from the present moment.
For it is in the present moment that we encounter the Lord. It is in the here and now that the Lord speaks to our hearts. It is in the present moment that the Holy Spirit inspires us. So, too, in our prayer we can often be distracted by something that has taken place or drawn to something on the horizon that either concerns us or to some event that we are excited to attend. If there was some way of keeping track of the frequency and duration of the time each day that we spend outside the present moment, we might be surprised to discover how “far away” from the present moment we have grown accustomed to living.
So, what if we became very intentional about living in the present moment? What if we set aside some of the distractions of life, the escapes we enjoy taking to our “happy places” or the nursing of resentments that only serve to wound ourselves over and again? What if we surrendered to the Lord all the things we worry about without having any power to affect the outcome? What if we stopped playing God by trying to manage everything and just let God take care of more (everything) that is beyond our prevue?
Some people think “multi-tasking” is a life skill. Doing two or three things at once is “productive.” Busy moms are particularly gifted at this, especially if children forget to mention last night that they have this or that to take to school tomorrow and now tomorrow has become today! No matter what our state in life might be – bishop, priest, business owner, farmer or rancher, mom or dad, custodial grandparent, unemployed father of five kids, widow, family care-giver, etc., worry takes us out of the present moment and robs us of the hope that only Christ can give.
The one thing that steadies our lives in the present moment is prayer! We may pray for healing of past memories, or pray about things we need or desire, but prayer is always offered in real time. In the moment when we are in prayer – we are face to face with the Lord, not somewhere else. Yet how little time do we spend with the Lord each day, compared with the distractions of the past or worries about the future? What if we really worked at staying in the present moment throughout our day? I think we might soon discover how indulgent we are in escaping the present moment.
Living outside the present moment is a kind of habit that can even become an addiction. Think about how people medicate their physical or emotional pain with drugs, alcohol, pornography, gambling, or other addictive behaviors because life is deemed to be too much to handle. Some prefer to live a juvenile adulthood without taking responsibility for themselves – the entitlement mentality. Yet it is all this that we must bring with faith, courage and hope to Jesus, who is “the Lord and giver of life.” It is face-to-face with Jesus that we put ourselves back in the present moment, but precisely with Him who knows us utterly and loves us unconditionally.
What if we were to decide today to practice living in the present moment more intentionally? What if we turned our escape routes into prayer pilgrimages to the Sacred Heart of Jesus? What if we took all that worries us and in a 10-minute time of prayer, imagine each of them to be a package that we now hand over to Jesus? Imagine that each time we are at Mass and our minds start wandering off to Husker sports, Pinterest or the next thing on the schedule for which preparations need to be made, we just shut all that down and enjoy “being with” the Lord who thirsts for our love and wants to flood us with his? For it is only in the present moment that we can receive the love of another. But in the present moment, giving the Lord permission to reveal his love, a new and right ordering of our lives begins to take place.
So, what if we decided to allow the Lord to “run the show” that is our lives? What if we took the passenger seat and let him take the wheel and drive our lives wherever HE wants to take us? What if we were to stop robbing ourselves of the joy of the present moment and allow him to “take care of everything?” The world is a mess. Without faith, things can seem hopeless. The only answer for the troubles and challenges of every age is Jesus – and to unite ourselves with him. So, what if we started living as one of his disciples more intentionally? What if we said, “Jesus, I give you permission to be Lord of my life!” “Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!”
