Present!

Present!

May 2, 2018

Cacabelos to Vega de Valacarce

I set out under heavy cloud cover floating well above the mountain peaks.  The whole panorama was displayed before me. The monstrous peaks of days ago are now replaced by the foothills of what I guess are about 1500 feet, about the height of Chicago’s Willis Tower. The trail ribboned along their base with acres and acres of farm and vineyards below. The grape vines were but mere short, budding  stumps about two feet high and with a horizontal cross branch.  They remind me of a cemetery with crosses made by nature.

I walked with two couples from Lyon, France.  They had about 5 years on me, but were strong and steady walkers.  The language barrier was too much to overcome, but they did something that triggered an insight within me.  Whereas I was so attentive to the trail and scenery ahead, a photographer in the group would turn around and snap a scene behind us.  I totally missing it. Wow! With the twists and turns through these large foothills, I had no idea of new hilly vistas revealed behind. With the farms, vineyards, and new ly cultivated fields, the landscape was nothing short of breath-taking. If it weren’t for the Frenchmen, I would have super-glued my attention to only what was ahead and missed the occasional glace from what was passed. 

Well I don’t claim to be the brightese in God’s classroom, so this photo session of what was behind played out intermittently as a review.  I needed the reminder lessons of being present to everything that was around me because my attention was only on what I was doing right then, and where I wanted to go later that day. II admit it. All too often I live in the future. 

Well, the day was chilly at first then sprinkles and then cold rain alternated throughout the day. I just wanted to get to the albergue 25km away. And, I couldn’t get there fast enough. I am grateful for the numerous “photo stops” that forced me to be present to all that God provided.  In fact, that was the “spirit nudge” that recycled in my awareness today. It was God reminding me to live in the present, not the past, not the future. Present!

It was a good starting point for my Camino reflection today.  How easy it is for me to get lost in things done yesterday and my attention almost welded to what I want to accomplish in the day ahead.  I’m a big “to do list” kind of guy.  I keep schedules in my phone that organize my day, not to mention when they need to occur.  I’ve learned to set alarms on it to remind me to leave, prepare, get going, and move on to the next thing.  If it’s not on my phone schedule, it’s likely not gonna happen. For fear of missing “the next thing,” I catch myself almost obsessed with double-checking the iphone dictator to see that I’m not missing where I am to be next.

It’s crazy! Most of my calendar is filled with opportunities of helping others or mentoring and counseling others. It’s all good, and it gives my life meaning and fulfillment. What today illustrated for me was how crazy attentive I can become with what lies ahead while missing what lies around me in the Present!

Can you relate?  Well here is how my past and future obsession got challenged and put in a new direction.

You may recall that days ago I met a gal on the trail, now long behind me, who is a Byzantine artist. She also was keenly attentive to trees. Yep, trees.  She called them, “The lungs of earth.” This has and still intrigues me. I gave hard thought. None of us can survive without oxygen; we are on oxygen life support, if you will. We take for granted each and every single breath we take in the present.

Now add these references from scripture regarding breathing. God is “Tree of life,” thereby claiming to be the oxygen maker for our existence. He is “The breath of life,” which places Him at the source of all that we breath.  At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit breathed on the apostles, an intimate exchange with His breath and theirs.  What power His breath in them must have been for it emboldened them to fearlessly proclaim the good news and be persecuted for it! It was a breath for that Present moment. It was not as a memory of who they knew in the past, and not for what they should or would do in the future. It was a gift for the Present!

Here is how I began my refocusing my being Present!  It’s this simple: Take a deep breath. That’s it. I stop, collect ed myself and my senses to what was before me and around me, and not just a quick glance. I drank it in.  Dare I say, I breathed it deeply. Anyone passing by would have thought I was crazy, but it didn’t matter.  I engaged all my senses to be Present!  It is a behavior of looking with new eyes. To hear like it was never heard before. To feel the emotion like it was never examined before. To drink in the fragrance like it was never experienced before. It is a posture like getting ensconced in your favorite chair. It consumes and embraces in the Present!

God has a roll call going on during our day. He is calling our attention to one of His gifts after another.  I sometimes hit the snooze button and miss them. Some are so alive that I take notice. And some I’ve allowed Him to press His imprint deep inside of me. I breath it in.

His roll call of beauty and grace spills out on us all day long.  I need only to drink them in as I would the present breath I take. It is my option to respond. And, it is your option to make yourself available to His roll call as well. Take a deep breath before whatever gift is before you.

May our exhale be a faithful, “Present!”

Fondly, Deacon Willie