The Now.

I turned to Kellie and asked, “Is there anywhere else in the world you would rather be?” We gazed around at the epic vista sprawling beneath us, standing on the side of a Colorado mountain, circled by 13,000-foot peaks, a rocky waterfall, and a crisp alpine lake. Dark green fir trees punctuated by brilliant golden-leaved Aspens...and above the tree line, great heaps of gray granite piecing the horizon.

There are those moments in time where everything feels held in the hands of perfection, and we are surrounded with peace, beauty, sunlight, and cool breezes. But those moments are not the norm, are they? Most of our moments are stocked with activity and interruption, work and challenge. Not bad things. Really rather good things that compose the faithful core of what has been entrusted to us. But not exactly alpine bliss.

It was only two days ago that Kellie and I were at the Denver airport, standing in line for over two hours to get our rental car. That wasn’t alpine bliss either! It was just...life. And the tragic part is how much of our lives we spend trying to get somewhere else.  

“I am here.” 

This line is part of a liturgy I’ve composed in a Body Prayer, which you can see below, located on that glorious mountainside. What is a body prayer? It’s a way of incorporating our third intelligence center—the body—into the act of praying. Prayer is not just the domain of head and heart; it includes all of us.  

In fact, one of the essential elements of prayer includes locating ourselves inside the present moment. Not trying to work ourselves into the next moment...or planning for another moment...or wishing we were in a different moment. Life is always happening now. Right this second! And if we’re not fully engaged with it, we’re missing it.

 A great deal of the spiritual journey is simply learning to enter fully into the now and not sleepwalk through our days. It’s easier to live in the present moment when this moment is spectacular, when we want to stop time and savor its exquisite joy. Those moments are gifts indeed. But the other moments are also gifts! The mundane. The normal. The unremarkable. These moments are also sacred once we learn to pay attention. And paying attention is the first of all spiritual practices.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning nailed it with these poignant lines...

Earth's crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God,

But only he who sees takes off his shoes;

The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”

 There’s nothing wrong with blackberries, right? They’re quite yummy. But when there’s a burning bush in front of me, I want to be paying attention to that. And sometimes...a simple blackberry bush is actually a burning bush! I think that’s Browning’s point.

Jean Pierre de Caussade was a 17th century French Jesuit who wrote a small book on this same topic: The Sacrament of the Present Moment. I expect that many of my readers are not well versed in the language of sacrament. Basically, a sacrament is a visible sign or symbol of the invisible presence of God...and a point of connection with God’s grace. So in Caussade’s view, every immediate moment—every now—is a point of direct communion with the divine...if we have eyes to see and are willing to pause and take off our shoes. That’s a reality I want to live in more consciously. How about you?

Growing the Soul

Take a minute to follow along with my body prayer...and savor the sweetness of the present moment, whatever it holds. Receive it. Welcome it. Just as it is, without trying to change it.

Serving the World

Pause and look around you, literally and figuratively. Who needs something you are in a position to give? Tap into your compassion and generosity and simply be present to your world. What’s possible now that you are living in the now?

Takeaway

Wake up to now.