Reflection
Why are you anxious?
Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.
Matthew 6:34
There is enough to be anxious about and to consume our whole attention. An invisible virus is causing havoc and absorbs our thoughts. Daily bulletins and data unnerve us. The entire ordinariness of life has changed and the future seems uncertain. In the new normal of our daily lives this seems rather irresponsible advice. Yet, Jesus is not recommending that we live happily in la- la land without a care. His words are a call to a view of life in which, although we fully realize our reality, we know clearly that the moment in which we are living is the only moment of which we can be sure. It is a confident hope in the God who sustains us and a belief that the key to peace is to live in the present moment with full awareness. To let go of our desire for control and our anxieties frees us to do what we must to live life in the now and to the fullest. We don’t know what the future will bring to us. Until then, our reasoned and responsible grasp of the present moment allows us to live calmly and prepares us to deal with whatever may come.
Prayer
May I live in the reality of the present moment.
Action
This is your special time, the only time you will ever have. Live in the now. You cannot predict the future. Sustain yourself and reach out to others with calm and comfort. Now is yours and it is holy ground.
Suggested Reading
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or drink,
or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds in the sky;
they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns,
yet your heavenly Father feeds them…
Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.
Sufficient for a day is its own evil.
Matthew 6:24-34
Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe — a moment that never was before and never will be again.
Pablo Casals
The art of life is to live in the present moment, and to make that moment as perfect as we can by the realization that we are the instruments and expression of God.
Emmet Fox
Harness the power of today. Seize the blessings of today! Make something happen, enhance your life, make someone laugh, help a friend, love, love, love!
Steve Maraboli
No matter how much you stress or obsess about the past or future, you can’t change either one. In the present is where your power lies.
Mandy Hale
Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
Buddha
It is through gratitude for the present moment that the spiritual dimension of life opens up.
Eckhart Tolle
Life is available only in the present moment. If you abandon the present moment you cannot live the moments of your daily life deeply.
Thich Nhat Han
This very moment is a seed from which the flowers of tomorrow’s happiness grow.
Margaret Lindsey
The only time you ever have in which to learn anything or see anything or feel anything, or express any feeling or emotion, or respond to an event, or grow, or heal, is this moment, because this is the only moment any of us ever gets. You’re only here now; you’re only alive in this moment.
Jon Kabat Zinn