Paying attention

“Take time to smell the roses” “they” say.

“What is this life,
If full of care.
We have no time
To stand and stare”

Someone else said that.

Good wisdom of course. The wisdom of the ages indeed, endorsed by wise thinkers and religious writers in all nations, traditions, and spiritual practices.


But seemingly impossible for me!

One day in Pittsfield I was driving home from the Supermarket. Even as I drove, my mind was sorting out the order in which I would unpack my groceries.

Nonsense of course, but that’s what I was thinking.

I suspect that my worries about “the next thing”; rather than any enjoyment of the moment is why I get up so early in the morning (4:00 a.m. would you believe!).

And even as I take my 6:00 a.m. walk I am sorting out what I must do when I get back to my home. (As if I did not have all the time in the world).

I am always fretting about “what comes next”.

This morning, June 8th, I attended the 9:00 a.m. Eucharist at All Angels by the Sea on Longboat Key.

The music was excellent; the sermon was “hot”, and the fellowship was grand.

It was only as I drove home that I realised that I had been fully present to those 80 minutes in worship. I had not given one thought to “what comes next”.

It was truly cool to sit in a pew, and not worry about a thing.

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