Looking Back to the Present

God is with me. He has always been there and always will be but I can experience Him only in the present moment, in the now. Looking back helps us to focus on the now, not to live in the past but to nourish us in the midst of the moment.

I was baptized at age 8 but really began my relationship with God 4 years later when I had an experience that shaped the rest of my life. I was walking back to my Aunt’s house after attending a summer conference for Christian teens. I had been feeling especially close to God all during the conference after doing a lot of soul searching for several weeks. As I walked along in the dark under a star filled sky I could not help but feel the presence of God in the grand creation around me. As I looked up into the stars I seemed to see the figure of a man’s head in the stars and a presence within me affirming my relationship with a living God who is always with me. One moment it was there and the next it was gone, but the presence remains with me always, whether I am paying attention or not.

God with me, not me with God, for sometimes I wander here and yon, but that living presence remains. Like all relationships it is ever changing but it is I who move toward or away from that relationship not God who moves. He is present in the now, in each moment as I move through life. Looking back to my first realization of that relationship lifts me up to meet all that comes my way by the strength and power he pours into me, moment by moment. Life in the now is life in relationship with Him who created us.

Today I can handle all problems that arise. God gives me what I need to handle each moment as it comes my way. I will listen to that inner voice that reassures me and leads me in the right direction. God will reveal to me what I need as the need arises, in the now.

Living in Relationship

I live somewhere between what I have been and what I will be, or rather what God is shaping me to be. I have had many successes and many failures. I am more than I was but remain less than I was created to be. But in between is the NOW. What does it mean to live in the now? Oprah has been extolling Eckhart Tolle’s books and teachings on living in the now. I can resonate with much that he has to say but he seems to leave out the most important piece of the puzzle, my relationship with God. For living in the now, for me, is to live in constant relationship with the one and only living God.

We have only the present moment. But we are not alone in that moment; God is always present with us. If I try to go it all alone I am only my true self in part. For it is only as I allow God’s extraordinary power to work within me, in the now, that I am in any way what I was created to be. I can handle the present moment because God provides all that I need for today, for the now. He empowers me with strength and supports my spirit and shapes my moments into the greatest possible now for me.

I will view what comes my way today as opportunities for a richer life. I will value all people I come in contact with as teachers placed in my path to bring me lessons in surviving and thriving. I will view my world today with eyes open to the sights, sounds and smells which make up the fabric of this magnificent creation. When I plod through the day in safe mode, secure in my rituals and routine, I miss the dazzling swirl of sparkling colors and the symphony of sound that surrounds me.

Today I slough off the old protective skin that I have grown to protect me from the fears and insecurities. I rejoice in the freedom to feel the winds of life swirling about me. I take off the blinders of habit and stale routine. I expand my view to take in the richness of the sights outside my tunnel vision. Truth and honesty with myself and others frees me to respond to life with gusto. The more open I am to God's leading in the now; the richer my life becomes and the better my relationships and connections with God and with those around me become.