R.A.D.I.C.A.L. Thoughts
"I still had to remind myself not to ignore the present -- right there in front of me, begging for attention as I carelessly looked backward and forward." Educating Alice ... Adventures of a Curious Woman by Alice Steinbach
Educating Alice is a story about a reporter who decides to travel the world by herself ... no strings attached, discovering what she could about the world on her own. Although most of us do not have the luxury or the funds to do that, I was encouraged by the book to better appreciate all the the amazing things to experience and take advantage of even in my own backyard. It's our attitude about the moment that makes the difference. The quote above was made when Alice was in the middle of a cooking school at some famous place, but it could just as easily be at your local Junior College. She went on to say, "But the unrelenting demands of cooking --particularly under the watchful eye of Chef Moreau--had the power to shut out everything except the reality of the moment at hand." We ought to live every single moment like that whether we are taking a class, teaching a class, cooking a meal, cleaning our closet, taking a walk, creating something. We need that childlike passion for the moment. For example, as I write this I try to envision the people who might be reading this blog ... a cup of coffee or hot tea in hand, in sweats before they dress for work. I look out the window before me and see the peachy, teal, ever-brightening sky over a snowy back yard. I taste my own coffee and feel my own socks on my feet and appreciate all of that. When will we ever get it through our muddled heads that joy is found in this very present instant? And then the next. And the next. I like the way Dr. Luke says it in the Acts of the Apostles, "In Him we live, and move and have our being." That's present tense. It doesn't say we lived or we will live it says we live. That means right this minute. Now. So today, let's not ignore the present moment right in front of us "begging for attention."
For in Him we live, and move and have our being.
- Acts 17:28
