Being Fully Present In The Present

I had this church member many years ago who absolutely thrived on conflict and drama.  

Her favorite thing to do was to create a problem through gossip, innuendo, or straight-up lying, and then put herself forward as the only person who could solve the issue. 

I once told someone that it felt like the woman was suffering from Churchy-Munchausen-By-Proxy syndrome.  

I later learned that she would do the same thing in her neighborhood, community organizations where she volunteered, and even in her family.  

I also learned that there were significant aspects of her personal life that were out of control and complete chaos.  She placed tremendous pressure on herself and internalized all of the trials and tribulations her family faced.  

It became clear that it was far easier for her to create problems and then try (unsuccessfully) to solve them than it was to face the real issues she was dealing with on a daily basis.  

I think we all do this to some extent--maybe not as severely as my former church member, but enough to be an issue.  

Fr. Richard Rohr recently wrote that in our current culture the only way for many of us to stay motivated in the present is to focus on problems that we create or to find something that needs fixing that we probably broke.

But then he gives this exhortation:  

If you can't be positively present right now, without creating a problem, nothing new is ever going to happen to you.  You will only experience what you already agree with and what does not threaten you--and you will never experience the unexpected depth and contentment that is always being offered to you.    

Jesus encouraged his followers to be present, to be ready and full of Divine expectation.  His teachings leaned away from the idea that life was a problem to be solved and toward the idea that God desires for us to live abundantly and fully right here, right now.   

May you find the strength to be fully present in the present.  May you live in Divine expectation, eagerly awaiting what God is doing now in your life.  

And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.