Today.
Give us today our daily bread.
~ Mt 6:11
Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today.”
~ Heb 3:13
Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
~ Mt 6:34
Today is the day of salvation.
~ 2 Cor 6:2
Every day is its own lifetime.
Every 24 hours contains its own birth and death, and this is the genius of bite-sized containers called a “day.” Each day we awaken with fresh breath in our lungs, invited into virgin space of time never before tasted, never before engaged as the you that you are now. The scene outside your door may look the same as yesterday morning, but it is actually not the same. You are not the same. Yesterday was its own sacred space that has now died. Today is reborn, as are you… if you want to be.
Is this just woo-woo talk, or is there something important here?
Here’s what we all know and have all experienced at times: We wake up to a day that feels exactly like yesterday, that appears to hold no new challenge or adventure… and the day seems to drop to meet our expectations. Yuck. And if the day is gray and cold (and you’re a little seasonal-affective like me)… or you’re tired… or disappointed, it’s that much easier to enter your day on autopilot, senses dull, creativity nill. It happens. Another one of our 30,000 days slips away, and we weren’t there for it.
“The secret of life is to die before you die” said Eckhart Tolle, and I think he’s on to something. A lot of somethings actually. Here are a few that come to mind…
Spiritual formation is simply an ongoing string of micro-deaths to the false self so that our true self can shine with the light of God. Every day contains a rich assortment of opportunities for this to happen; sometimes we see it and surrender to it, other times not.
The more we surrender to these ego-deaths, the free-er we become and the more able we are to be fully present in each day.
Every time we die to our “emotional programs for happiness” (as Keating calls them), we become more present in the now, more able to show up in the gift of today.
The more comfortable we become with our micro-deaths, the less hold our actual physical death has upon us and the more that death simply becomes one more window of transformation.
Another beautiful thing about living fully in today (rather than tomorrow) is that there is a full measure of grace for this day… but not grace for the days to come. It’s sort of like the manna that fed the Israelites in the desert; it was only designed to feed them for one day. They learned to trust that tomorrow’s provision would come tomorrow and be more than enough.
So what will the “lifetime” of today hold for you? Can you enter into the wonder of this new creation? 24 hours of absolute possibility for touching the numinous. If you look for it, you will find it.
growing your soul
“Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.” ~ Mt 13:16
serving our world
Who needs your full presence today?
takeaway
Show. Up.