I am currently reading a small booklet called Daybreaks by Ron Rolheiser, OMI. In the preface the author states that "we spend 98% of our lives waiting for something else to happen to us." This would indicate that we only spend 2% of our lives actually being present to what is happening to us now. We all do this and most of the time we are totally unaware that we are doing it. As I write these thoughts I am already projecting ahead to when I am done and I can sit in my favorite chair. We are now in the liturgical season of Advent. It is a season of waiting for the birth of Christ on Christmas. In our modern culture we are not very good at waiting. We are impatient and expect instant gratification in almost everything. Nothing in our lives seems fast enough. We have lost all sense of life unfolding at its own pace. We want to push, pull, shove, bypass, or manipulate just about everything because of our impatience. However, if we push life too much, it will push back. When we are anxious and impatient for the next moment, the next event, and the next experience, it is virtually impossible to appreciate the current moment. As the speed of the holidays ramps us, and we struggle to accomplish all our tasks, lets breathe and learn to wait patiently. Let’s spend more time in the moment and less time trying to fast forward to the next task or experience. Sometimes God is more present in our longing than in our fulfillment.
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