THIS IS THE MOMENT

 

 

THIS IS THE MOMENT

“Embrace the present moment as an ever-flowing source of holiness.”

–Jean Pierre de Caussade

In the early 1700’s the French Jesuit priest, Jean Pierre de Caussade, wrote a book, the title of which is often translated, The Sacrament of the Present Moment.  Three hundred years later Eckhart Tolle wrote The Power of Now. Before, after, in-between, and at every vantage point in human history, people are re-discovering and re-packaging a fundamentally simple yet profound truth: The secret to an ever-flowing source of holiness is the embrace of the present moment.

 

    

 

We can substitute a great many other words for holiness and broaden the meaning and the need for the embrace of the present moment:

• Embrace the present moment as an ever-flowing source of health.
• Embrace the present moment as an ever-flowing source of happiness.
• Embrace the present moment as an ever-flowing source of humility.
• Embrace the present moment as an ever-flowing source of healing.
• Embrace the present moment as an ever-flowing source of harmony.
• Embrace the present moment as an ever-flowing source of …………….

 

We can keep filling in the blanks. I’ve only begun on the “H’s.” The present moment holds the key that unlocks the doors to mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing.

 

This is not a new message. If you are like me, every time you read this message you re-commit to living more in the present. This is obviously timeless wisdom and a free, non-caloric, time-saving, happiness inducing tip. It is not hard to see why we remember de Caussade 300 years later for this conclusion, and why Eckhart Tolle is a very wealthy man for his re-presenting this wisdom to our generation. THIS is common sense, which, as we all know, is not so common.

Why can’t we do it? When being in the present is so logical and wise, why can’t we do it? Why can’t we embrace the present moment and harness the power of now?

 

Stop where you are for just a few seconds and focus on your physical surroundings. The computer or your I-pad or phone is in front of you. Look beyond the technology. Out the window beside my computer I see the orange and yellow marigolds I planted to try to disguise my propane tank. I remember holding those tiny black seeds in my hand and sprinkling them on the ground. Now, I have vibrant three-foot-tall marigolds. In this present moment, I have flowers and the miracle of life. One glance out the window and my heart is nourished. With one second’s concentration on the present moment, I become part of the ever-flowing SOURCE.

 

 

              

 

 

Or, look down at your hands for a minute. Can you believe there are veins and arteries transporting blood to each part of each hand, from palm to finger tips? Do you know how many bones are required to move each of those fingers and allow them to curl and point and clasp? I don’t either. How many layers of skin cover those bones? How many tendons and muscles are involved? What an engineering miracle our hands are. How does everything work together so smoothly, and why are we blithely unaware of how astonishing it is that all our parts move and do what our brain tells each part to do, even though we are not even aware of, for example, my telling various fingers to hit various keys on the keyboard of the computer.

 

              

 

We live unconsciously, don’t we? We eat without any awareness of chewing and swallowing, walk without any awareness of our knees bending or our heels hitting the ground before our toes. We speak without realizing that a nanosecond before a sound comes out of our mouth we have chosen a word, put it in a thought, created a sentence, and given it emotional charge. The words were soft and loving or clear and directive. We have a hidden agenda of getting someone to care for us or getting someone to stop doing something they are doing.  All of this and so much more goes on without our attending to a bit of it.

 

Where are we while all of this living is going on without us? If we are prone to anxiety, we are worrying about the future and thus missing the perfect present. If we are prone to depression, we are remembering and reliving the past. While a flawlessly beautiful marigold is attracting a hungry black bee outside the window, I am busy hearing a cruel, sarcastic remark that was made to me in 1999. How many hours of my life have I wasted replaying the tape of that one awful verbal attack? How many different times have I defended myself to the attacker who left immediately after saying those words and has no doubt not given them a thought since. He never once heard me defend myself. And yet I keep at it.

 

Alternatively, I busy myself preparing for other verbal attacks which will come in the future. I imagine how I will be attacked and for what and then I imagine how I will respond and how brilliantly I will disable the attacker. Over and over, I prepare for things that won’t happen.

 

Did you know that psychological research tells us that 85% of all the things we worry about never materialize? As I said to a client yesterday, so I say to myself right now: “We humans suck at mind-reading!”  We think we know what others intend when they say this or that or do this or that. Invariably in counseling sessions when this happens and I ask the person whose mind is being “read,” the person is clueless and befuddled by the perceived meaning of his or her words or actions.

 

When we mind read someone’s intentions we almost always assume that person has meant something negative. I said to that client yesterday: “For heaven’s sake, if you are going to make up a story about what something or someone means, make up a positive story instead of a negative one.” But, we never do. We RARELY do, at least. When things are nebulous and unclear, we assume the worst or something which works to our disadvantage.

A famous and true story is told about using some early version of Morse Code to report the results of a battle between England and France. The message came across the English Channel that said, “British defeated.” Then the fog and the darkness rolled in. All who had read the message grieved, worried, and knew the unthinkable had happened. The next morning when the fog cleared the message was repeated in its entirety: “British defeated Napoleon.”

 

We will live in the ever-flowing source of holiness, health, happiness and harmony in direct proportion to how much time we can spend in the present moment. We need to stay out of the fog of the past which always looks different in the rear view mirror, and out of the fog of the future, which, of course, we cannot see clearly because it has not yet come into focus.

I think I’ll go pick a bouquet of marigolds.

 

 

Peace and blessings as we embrace the present moment – Susan and Tony

Supporting Scripture:

“For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.” 1 Corinthians 7:14 (ESV)

“For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.” Psalm 33:21 (ESV)

“By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.” 2 Timothy 1:14 (ESV)

“And those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.” I Corinthians 7:31 (ESV)

More support is yours at the following websites:

http://pillaroflightfoundation.org/

https://manyfacesofanxiety.com/

https://manyfacesofdepression.com/

https://manyfacesofptsd.com/