We either live our life thinking of the
past or thinking of the future and seldom do we live our lives in the present moment. For some people, the events which took place in
the past are so vivid in their
memory that everything they do is determined by these past experiences. Thus, there is no
newness of experience and there is no opportunity to learn new things. Living while thinking of the future sometimes
makes us too preoccupied as to
what to do that we get into manipulation, planning and plotting, hence often embarking into a sort of
day dream or mere wishful thinking. In
short, living in the present is what we must do. Though things of the
past keep emerging in our lives, and
thoughts of the future preoccupy our mind, the present moment should harness
both of the past and present, and effectively
display them at this very moment of our
lives. So, how do we do
that?
According to
the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 4, Jesus
opened the scripture and read a text taken from Isaiah. After having read it,
he rolled up the scroll and gave it to the assistant and sat down. He began to speak: “This text is being
fulfilled today even as you listen.” What a powerful expression of the past
being effectively fulfilled in the very present moment. Today, as you listen,
the text is being fulfilled. Words of
Isaiah are not of the past but now effectively happening in the present.
Jesus has assumed and absorbed
that which everything Isaiah spoke as something happening in the very present.
Therefore, by assuming into our very self
what that had happened and everything that will happen, we harness the power within to live in the present. The present
moment is always the converging point of the past and future. As the memories
of the past come into our minds,
look at the wisdom of the experiences and
let it influence our present state. When the things of the future emerge, look
and feel the enthusiasm, hope and faith and let these feelings and emotions influence our present moment.
When we do this exercise regularly, we make the present moment expanded, and
the future and the past embraced into the here and now experience. Jesus brings
the Kingdom of God and the experience of the presence of God real and present
in this very moment (“today”). For him, it was not the things of the past, neither was it the thing of the
distant future. It is alive here, now and in front of you as you listen and see. Thus, you are challenged
live concretely and evidently.
Fr Robert Daniel Francis.
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