Let go of the private dream for the dream of God. Most of us live in the past, carrying our hurts, guilts and fears. We have to face the pain we carry, lest we spend the rest of our lives running away from it or letting it run us. But the only place you'll ever meet the real is now-here. It's the hardest place for us to live, the place where we're most afraid to live, because it feels so empty and boring. Now-here almost always feels like nowhere, and that's precisely where we must go.
I really appreciate this daily dose of compassion and challenge. While not a direct response to Now-Here - I've had similar thoughts...
are you there yet
where you do not wish to go
did you arrive without a plan
or did your plans go awry
did you think you could avoid it
walk around it, sneak on by
is there illness in the family
did the homeless go away
are children starving in Africa
did you eat your fill today
is there justice in your town
are the bullies loud and mean
do people die for no good reason
is your drinking water clean
we are there now, don't you see it
where we do not wish to be
that's exactly where we'll stay
until we learn to be set free
where we do not wish to go
is a place we all avoid
instead we build up walls of fear
as our purpose is destroyed
can we banish pain and sorrow
with instincts of flight or fight
or should we face reality
letting God provide the light
But, what IS "the dream of God"?
Reading Richard Rohr's post this morning I was with him until the "because" clause. I agree that we too often get stuck thinking about the past and have difficulty living in the here and now, but not because the here and now is empty or boring. I think it's because being in the here and now requires that we make a major shift from the passivity of dwelling on our misfortunes, failures and victimizations, to the active state of doing something about our situation. This of course requires more than reflection and victimosis -- it requires passion, energy, vision, planning and action. Mr. Rohr's negativity is not helpful.
Living in the now-here has it's benefits. This morning when I first read this piece, my thought was of how many times I realize later that if I had been listening for the opportunities God presents for me (us) to act upon, what a wonderful situation I could have been part of on His behlf.
Well, I just rturned from bible Study, where we studied Mark 12:1-12, about the vineyard. On the way to lunch afterwards, I walked into a situation that I was at first very unaware of, wherein the scripture (we) had just studied had the opportunity to become real and present. The result was tremendous.
If I had been nursing one of my past issues at the moment, I would have missed the whole thing.
Like your poem, Kim.
Is it okay to copy it and give to friends?
Thanks.
Today's is an important topic.
I believe what Fr. Richard Rohr writes here is very powerfull - impregnanted with the POTENCY of God in the "NOW-HERE". God is THE God of "I AM" - where the past, present and future intersect in one moment of time, only a moment at a time - "the only place you'll ever meet the REAL"!
"Now-Here alomost always feels like nowhere" - perhaps that is why we seek to fill the 'potholes of time' with all kinds of entertainment and self-aggrandizement. So we put our thumb in the pie and exclaim 'what a --- am I', while all along God waits..."in the place of now-here", waiting...waiting...waiting "for us to let go of the private dream for the dream of God"!
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