Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry — all forms of fear — are cause by too much future, and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of nonforgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence. ~ Elkhart Tolle

Live in the present.
You hear this saying all the time, yet aren’t we constantly bombarded by hopes of our future and regrets of our past. Lately I have been thinking much about what the future holds. Thinking of this leads me to wondering about past experiences and how I have gotten where I am today. This sort of thinking can drive us insane. Maybe this is why we are reminded to live in the present. This usually seems easier said than done. When we are continually trying to accomplish certain tasks in our life and moving forward in our lives, it is very hard to just be in the moment.
Tonight at Taize I had a moment of insight, what I like to call ‘a God moment’. Steve Miller expressed the importance of being in the moment and brought attention to a "Buddhist gatha" we would be singing later in the service. When the song presented itself I was sitting, listening to the words and being in the presence of the beautiful melodic voices of the music ~
~ “In, out, deep, slow, calm, peace, smile, release;
Present moment, wonderful moment.” ~
I lost myself in the music for a moment and something said to me “See if you were still in your past you wouldn’t have been able to experience this moment now.” Tears streamed down my face as I realized how often in our lives to we miss a beautiful day, a beautiful person, a beautiful moment because we are not living in the present.
Pastor Brook recently challenged a group at church to share a meal with someone and be present. Turn off the TV, don’t have any agenda, and just sit and enjoy; appreciate and cherish the moment with that person. I challenge you to do the same in the next week …and live in the present.
~Angelica