My Thoughts 11/01/2022
Some years ago, while on pilgrimage to Lourdes with the HCPT Pilgrimage Trust, we had a day trip with the group of children to Garvanie, a town in the Pyrenees.
I was looking after a young lad who had very little sight. He wanted to ride a donkey and while he was on the donkey, he was talking about going higher up the valley to throw stones in the river. While he was at the rivers edge throwing in stones, he was talking about having an ice cream.
Instead of living in the present and enjoying the donkey ride, hearings the splash of the rocks as the hit the water or savouring the taste of the ice cream he was thinking of the next thing. This is what we are all liable to do. Instead of enjoying the present moment our thoughts drift to what we have to do next.
When I was visiting the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, I was so surprised at how many people instead of standing before painting and experiencing what was before them, took a picture of the painting to look at it later. They deprived themselves of enjoying the present moment and the masterpiece before them.
I recall being at a social event and having a conversation with a bishop, and being aware he wasn’t present to me, but looking around anticipating the next person he was going to meet. He was not really in a listening mode. It was good for my humility.
God is in the present moment. It is now that we encounter him. He speaks to us in what we see, who we meet and what we do. Let us enjoy today, this present moment.
“I only have TODAY.”
– St Therese of Lisieux