The Gift of the Present Moment

Today is a guest blog by my lovely wife Deborah . She woke at four in the morning with these thoughts on her birthday.

 

In my early childhood, all I knew was the present moment. Soon I began to anticipate the next day.  I looked forward to special events, a birthday, Christmas, a family vacation.  When life became difficult, I wanted to escape the present moment and started to plan for the future.   I dreamed of a life full of adventure.  I lived my dreams, and lived for my dreams.  But the present moment was always calling me, beckoning me to embrace it.  Sometimes I did, but mostly I dreamed.  I dreamed of finding love and having a family.  My dream came true and we began to dream together.  We lived our dreams and lived for our dreams. Yet even as we dreamed together, we would often catch ourselves and be reminded of the beauty of the present moment, but the moment would fade and we would start to dream again.  Now, as we grow old together, we realize how little time we have and very few dreams left to dream.  We haven't stopped dreaming, because we want something to share, to look forward to together.  But eventually, if God wills, our dreams will become much simpler, and we will have many more memories than dreams.  Maybe then, we will share our memories and be thankful.  But if we live long enough, our memories too will begin to fade and all we will know is that precious jewel, that we let slip by as we focused on our dreams, that hidden treasure that was our gift at birth, that beckoned us our whole lives.  That jewel is the only treasure we have because it is an encounter with God, a sacrament, the sacrament of the present moment.