Collage for Art Assignment

Pray for the people of Haiti

7.0 earthquake, Tuesday afternoon

Henri Nouwen

I posted, "The Kings in the Moment" just minutes ago. I checked one of my email accounts and found this email from Henri Nouwen, whom I subscribe to. I couldn't believe my eyes!

"Patience is a hard discipline. It is not just waiting until something happens over which we have no control: the arrival of the bus, the end of the rain, the return of a friend, the resolution of a conflict. Patience is not a waiting passivity until someone else does something. Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are. When we are impatient we try to get away from where we are. We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later and somewhere else. Let's be patient and trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand."

Amen!

The Kings in the Moment

The Twelfth Day of Christmas marks the end of the journey of the wisemen. All during the Christmas season I have imagined myself travelling with them. I have thought about the anticipation, the frustrations, the concerns, the fears that they would have encountered when faced with the elements of the journey, i.e., the length of time, the weather, the message in their dreams, the darkness, the desert, the fatigue, the unknowns.

But, today, I am "there" with them - they have arrived at their destination and are face to face with the King they were searching for. The King of kings - the pearl of great price - the one, who alone, is worthy of such sacrifice, perseverance and worship.

In the moments, during which they looked on the baby (God with us) I'm sure there was no other thought, past or future, that crossed their minds. They were in the present with the presence of Eternity-in-time. They were "there," in the moment. They were at peace.

This made me reflect on my own experience. When I wish for things I once had or did;when I hang on to regrets from the past; or when I think I can only be happy when..., I make myself miserable!

For, you see, peace is not found in what I wish I could have. It is found in being content in the moment. Feeling the moment. Breathing the moment. Doing everything with my whole being engaged in what I am doing, in the moment. Savoring all that there is while doing the task at hand, realizing that everything I do is an act of worship. God is in the moment. He is the God of peace. If I want peace, I will only find it in Him. And, where is He again? He's in the moment, the now, the present.

If I am in the present, where the God of peace is, fully conscious of what I am doing, I will do a better job, I will experience grace so that whatever I do will glorify God.

As I wrote in a post earlier this week: it is always a good time to pick up the blocks and try again. I will be trying to carefully, consciously, place each block (each task, each thought) in its place. I will purpose to stay in the present with the Presence - worshipping the one who alone is worthy of the sacrifice.

What am I sacrificing anyway? Being so busy that I can't see straight. Pitying myself because I'm longing for something I don't have. Obsessing over the "plans." My own will.

When I don't pay attention to what I'm doing, it is so easy to drift down the path of life that everyone else is travelling on. Going with the flow doesn't necessarily mean you get to your destination faster. Everybody is in a hurry but, as you know, those roads most travelled are congested with traffic jams. Everybody in the traffic jam is anxious, sweating, cursing, even shooting, but are going nowhere fast.

When the kings travelled to worship the baby king, they took "the road less travelled". When they arrived, I don't think they waited in line with hundreds of people for the place to open. When they were with the baby king, it was all about the baby king.

I can't imagine that there was another thing in the world they wanted. And, I'm sure they wouldn't trade being there for anything, for they had found the King of kings, the Prince of Peace, the present Presence. The moment was priceless, as will be every moment be that you or I are present to.

A Prayer for the Tenth Day of Christmas

Today, I will persevere in prayer.
I’ll yield all I once thought I could not live without.
I’ll breath-in the brief and exquisite happiness of this holy nakedness.
Faith, carry me these last few steps.
Hope, hold me.
Love, fill me.

(taken from Awakening the Spiritual Life,
by Chris Erdman)

2010

I don't know about you, but I love new notebooks, freshly fallen snow, a box of brand new crayons, and the beginning of a new year. We have entered into the new year of 2010. It is a time for the traditional "resolution-making."

Someone once said that life is like building with wooden blocks. Sometimes you don't finish what you started to build because it falls down. But, that's ok, because you can just pick up the blocks and try again.

That's what new years' resolutions are like. We make them and (I'm told everyone breaks them by the middle of February), we make them again! If your resolution is something worthwhile; if it will benefit your life, don't give up! Pick up the blocks and try again!

And, this year, if you break your resolution (say by Jan. 4th?), don't wait until Jan.1, 2011 to try again. Try again on Jan.5th! You can do it! I know you can! ;)

May you have a successful 2010!