present moment Archives - Shepherd of Faith

Times stands still in the present!

In one of my past posts, I talked about the importance of living in present moment awareness. I mentioned how I failed at smiling when my mind wandered to past and future events. Yesterday, as is true of all things inspired by the Holy Spirit, I received an answer to why this is so. This answer led me to realize something else.

I started a new chapter in the current book I’m reading Forty Weeks – An Ignatian Path to Christ with Sacred Story Prayer. Here’s what it says and the answer to why it’s impossible to smile unless we’re rooted in present moment awareness:

The eternal God can only be experienced in the here and now, for everything in the universe is sustained by God’s love in the present moment. When I worry about the past, or fret about the future, my consciousness of God, of creation, and of my deepest desires, is blocked. My challenge is to anchor both heart and mind firmly in the present: in each thought, word, and deed, as the story of my life evolves, in each moment, in God’s presence.

So let’s put it all together now. We can smile only when we’re focused on the present and ONLY in the present can God be experienced! Here’s my legal logical reasoning mind at work: WE CAN SMILE ONLY WHEN GOD IS EXPERIENCED!

“The eternal God can only be experienced in the here and now” must have lingered in my subconscious all night because I spent this morning in a powerful meditative state. God’s Presence was palpable. I savored the moments when tears welled up in my eyes because that’s when I felt Him closest. As I remained focused on the present moment this morning, I realized something else: it felt like time stood still. Let me explain.

Late Sunday night I decided to get myself ready for a productive week by making a list of things to do. Being the organized, sometimes neurotic , person I am I split the list into categories – business, home and church. I wound up with a full double-sided sheet of paper. Initially this overwhelmed me. I started to tackle some of my chores after making the list last night. Needless to say, I was up past midnight. Normally what happens when I make such a huge list is I become paralyzed. Most of my time is spent worrying about everything I have to do instead of my actually doing anything. This in turn makes me feel like there aren’t enough hours in a day. Today was different.

I woke up after only getting 4.5 hours of sleep last night. After seeing my husband off to work I was tempted to go back to bed but I refused. I knew it would keep me from my morning routine of prayer and contemplation. It would also change the trajectory of my day and the plans I had made. Instead I decided to sit on my deck with coffee and just be. I watched the fog disappear and reappear in the distance. As I listened to the birds sing their morning songs, I watched my dogs do what they do best – teach me.

I continued with my morning and decided I wouldn’t have time to attend mass today. But…………as we all know, God has a great sense of humor. I “planned” a busy day where I wouldn’t have time to go to church. God had a different plan – time to spare! Between 5 and 8:30 am I managed to be still for a significant amount of time, pray, do a load of laundry, clean two bathrooms, vacuum, have breakfast and head out to church with enough time to participate in morning prayer. It literally felt like time stood still this morning. God is infinite and when we truly experience Him in the here and now time seems infinite as well. This morning I realized things effortlessly fall into place when you remain present.

For my sisters in Christ who are reading Forty Weeks with me, this is for you. The consensus is that it’s going to be difficult to maintain the routine required in the book. It almost seems like too much to remember – too many steps. I am happy to report that the routine just flowed for me today. As a matter of fact, I completed today’s assignment before I even opened the book and that wasn’t my intention. Simply being present allowed me to enter into that space of grace! I felt closer to God this morning than I have in a long time. Boy did it feel good to be steeped in prayer and presence. The lesson here: don’t think too much, just be and let it flow! Remember, “it’s not Mount Everest” applies to the rest of the book too.

Are you interested in doing an archaeological dig on yourself? Do you know what makes you tick? If you’re interested in going deeper in your spiritual life and getting the answers to those questions, I highly recommend starting the Forty Weeks program. Do it with a group for encouragement. It can be intense at times but the reward for following through is worth it. I’m only half way done and have learned so much about myself, others and how to live in awareness. The book was written by a Jesuit priest but you don’t have to be Catholic to read it and follow its suggestions. I hope you are moved to give it a try. God bless you!

For more information on the program click here.

Smile!

One of my past posts talked about becoming what you receive. In it I talked about how important the Eucharist is. Basically, the more we receive it the more we become like Christ. Today I’d like to focus on how we perceive ourselves. This idea came to me this morning as I thought about a smile campaign my prayer group and I started in our parish. Let me explain.

As many of you may know, I am a big fan of Fr. Michael Gaitley and his books. He provides great insight into the mysteries of our faith. To make a long story short, my prayer group and I studied a series of his books and took part in the retreats he offers in them. The last book in the series called on us to choose something to do as a group that would help make the world a better place. This same book included a poem about smiling. We decided to print the poem on rack cards and make it available to everyone in our parish. We took care to size them just right to fit within the missalettes while at the same time being a good size to use as a bookmark. You can read the poem here.

I think the cards have been well received. However, I was struck by a comment made by one of the parishioners. She happened to mention how wonderful she thought the cards were and that she wanted to take a bunch to share in her community because they could use a lesson in smiling. What struck me after we spoke was how little I’ve actually witnessed her smiling. This led me to think about the fact that she probably perceived herself differently than what she presented to the world. In her eyes she was happy and smiled often.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized I did the same thing. As a matter of fact, I remember walking into a Dunkin Donuts for coffee (assuming my good mood was evident) only to be greeted by the guy behind the counter mimicking my scowl. Well that was an eye opener! I would venture to guess many people do the same thing. There’s a reason why we decided to make those smile cards and place them in our parish. That’s not to say that our parish is not full of loving, generous, compassionate people. As a parish and as a world, we just need to smile more.

Here’s the thing. I don’t think people mean to walk around with a frown or a scowl on their face. The truth is, regardless of how easy it is, smiling requires a conscious effort. We must be AWARE of the present moment. Without present moment awareness, the easiest and least costly thing we can ever do becomes very difficult. If you’re thinking about your chore list, work, past hurts, future projects and appointments, it’s almost impossible to smile. Be honest, does the thought of all these things make you want to smile? They may produce a scowl, a rapid heart rate or an overwhelming feeling but not a smile.

Living in the present makes it easier for us to focus on smiling and vice versa. In thinking about my perception of myself and what I actually present to the world, I challenged myself to smile often today. There were many moments when my mind wandered. My thoughts focused on either my agenda for the day/weekend or some other thought. It was at these moments that I failed at smiling. However, when I remembered to keep smiling, I was transported back to the present moment, to an awareness without judgment. For me, there seems to be a direct connection between present moment awareness and our tendency to smile.