Don’t miss
the moments. Every day God sends us a
moment of hope and love. In fact, I’m
guessing that every day there are a myriad of opportunities that we might
realize are just from God. The problem
is that we don’t really live in the moments.
Rather, we live for the tasks or events of the day.
The
spiritual life is about moments. I need
accountability to capture my moments. My
husband helps me with this. We try to
ask each other what was our Bonum Dei—God-given good—for that day. It can be as basic as having air to breathe,
or as sweet as the smile of a child who is happy to see you. These simple moments break up the mundane of
living and weave together the message of God’s love and purpose for your life.
I learned
Bonum Dei from my spiritual director; the ancient Christians also practiced a
spiritual discipline of Examen that focuses on recognizing the daily. Daily examens are perfect for the end of the
day when you stop and consider what part of your day that you felt most loved
by God—that is your bonum dei; then what part of the day did you feel least
loved—perhaps this memory leads to forgiveness or confession. Frank Laubach found living moment by moment
led to increased intimacy with God. He
wrote:
Nobody
is wholly satisfied with himself. Our
lives are made up of lights and shadows, of some good days and many
unsatisfactory days. We have learned
that the good days and hours come when we are very close to Christ, and that
the poor days come whenever we push Him out of our thoughts. Clearly, then, the way to a more consistent
high level is to take Him into everything we do or say or think.[i]
Laubach
came up with what he called a game of minutes where he shared a way to make a
habit of spending time with God moment by moment. In Ephesians 5:15-16 Paul exhorts us, Be very careful, then, how you
live —not as unwise but as wise,
making the most of
every opportunity, because the days are evil. One way to follow Paul’s instruction is to
enter into the moments brought by each new day and discover the reality of
God’s purpose, planning and blessings.
It
can be as simple as counting the ducklings that have hatched this spring and
watching the mother duck demonstrate the love that God has for us through her
maternal instincts towards her ducklings.
It can be as significant as recognizing the moment that separated you
from a high speed collision that might have proven disastrous for your own
life. Every day has moments like
these. These are the moments that
connect you to the real purpose of your life—praise of God and intimacy with Him.
Living
moment by moment can be done in many ways.
Laubach suggests taking one hour that you are more likely to be successful
in thinking of God and writing down how many moments in that hour you were
thinking of God. A good place to try
this would be during a church service.
You might recognize how often your mind is drawn away from the love of
God even during a time where you are led to purposely focus on Him for an
hour. Don’t be discouraged if your score
is low, but desire to reach the heights so you discover the pleasure of living
for the moments of connection to God’s love for you.
[i]
Frank C. Laubach, Letters by a Modern Mystic (Purposeful Design, Colorado
Springs, 2007), p. 91.
Comments
Post a Comment