The Present

I was writing a letter this morning to put in the mail box to send to a friend of my youth (yes, I still use the U.S. Postal Service). After writing the following paragraph I decided to share it here at my blog also. Although the circumstances are different for each of us, and although some people naturally live in the present and perhaps even need to learn from the past and plan for the future (so different from me)...I hope there is someone who will read this and relate, and decide just for the moment to live for the moment. Of course, I don't mean "live for today" in the "eat, drink and be merry" way, without thought for our eternal goals; but "live for today" in a joyful and peaceful awareness of the presence of God.

So here's the paragraph:
I need to learn to live in the present. It’s so easy for me (though not always so pleasant for me or for those around me) to try to live in the past and the future. What was that old song? (There I go into the past…saying “that old song”). “Today while the blossoms still cling to the vine…” I knew even when I used to sing that song at church camp in junior high that I had trouble living in the present. But since living here in our little apartment I’m finding it easier to live in the moment. It’s kind of funny. Where we lived previously we had an acre and a half, in a country suburb, with mature, beautiful trees. It was like a big park (a big small town park or a very small country park). And yet, I rarely had time to go out outside and enjoy the beauty, and when I was outside, I was usually seeing all the things that needed fixing, and worrying about how much the house and its upkeep were costing us instead of enjoying the beauty. But now I sit at my computer – with the balcony door open if the temperature is comfortable as it is this morning – looking out over the parking lot, but also looking out at deciduous trees and evergreen trees, shrubs and grass; with birds chirping and singing and occasionally flying in and out of my trees, right outside my window.