Be Here Now

I have this condition that I call "not here now," which is the opposite of the affirmation that one should "be here now." Perhaps it's my slight ADD or OCD, CIA (gotcha on that one ;)), but whatever the case, I find myself thinking backwards into the past or straining forward to see the future. Hardly am I ever reflecting in the moment or sitting still. In fact, I think torture for me would be forced immobility. If I don't move or twitch, I get restless. Sitting still for long periods of time makes me tense.

So I have this problem. I rarely reflect on this present moment, or am wholly there in that moment. Which of course lessens lots of things in life like listening skills, savoring your food, enjoying a shower, relaxing during my commute and not just getting there, remembering a sermon or lecture...etc. Es no bueno.

How can we work on not being distracted, or focusing on the present? Life is only a necklace strand, each strand composed of moments en-captured in pearls. Beautiful pearls. Pearls forged in the rough oysters of life. But we can't look backwards and focus on the time when the strand broke or over-focus on the finished masterpiece. Life and the art of living are created pearl by pearl, moment by moment. Christ said, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Solomon, a wise man, once reflected, "There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace."

Each pearl, each "time," is beautiful when held in God's hands, with all things working together for good, not because the world is perfect, and each moment painless, but because our God is perfect. He allows us to rest in the moment and "be here now" because He knows our past and goes before us into our future, giving us peace.

Savoring each pearl,
Jane