By Pastor Cindy Senarighi RN
The Scripture ~ God, the one and only—I’ll wait as long as God says. Everything I hope for comes from God, so why not? God is solid rock under my feet, breathing room for my soul, an impregnable castle: I’m set for life. Psalm 62:5 The Message
The Spiritual Focus ~ “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.” — Alice Morse Earle, U.S. American historian and author from the colonial period
The Breath Prayer ~ Inhale ~ this present, Exhale ~ moment
The Devotion ~ Sometimes we are forced to BE in the present moment. Certainly, the recent weather events across the country have given many of us that pause. We lean toward our default, dualistic nature: Should I wait or should I go? Is it right or is it wrong? Decisions, decisions, and then the decision is made for us and we are grounded to the present moment. Being in the present moment is an in-between experience. It is challenging, and yet throughout scripture and other sacred texts, we are reminded that it is in the middle, the pause, the present moment that we truly connect with something greater than ourselves that we name God.
God’s story in the Bible is most available for us in the present moment. Love didn’t begin with the narrative of Jesus in the New Testament but was present in God from the beginning in the First Testament. While God’s love is infinite, it can only be experienced in the present moment. Jesus’ ministry of love happened from the middle, from the space between the politics and religion of his day. Jesus stayed present to the mission, fulfilling the law while challenging the politicians to see things differently. It wasn’t easy and it cost him his life, but he trusted God. God was his rock and love prevailed.
Trusting God and being present takes practice. In yoga we practice being present in our breathing and meditation but also in our movement. In most yoga classes we are encouraged to pay attention to our bodies as we move with breath. This practice teaches us to be present in the moment, receiving the gift of the moment before and while we move through the poses. In the gift of the present moment, we experience God’s love, we learn to trust God, and to share that love. Then we are truly set for life!
