May 29, 2017
I like to walk in the morning before the hustle and bustle of the day gets into full swing… as I work to keep the list of the day’s projects from flooding my mind… I take in my surroundings and listen to my environment as I enjoy a few moments of solitude and communing with nature. Recently, as I walked with a friend, I was struck by the beauty of the springtime… the trees looked extra green against the blue sky and there were no clouds in the sky. We had walked other days in a steady rain, but the feeling was somewhat the same… there is sheer joy in just being in nature and just allowing the moments to envelope me and feeling the touch of Spirit in all experiences. There were the newly budding evergreens and the five goslings pecking and darting around their watchful ‘mom and dad’… The birds were singing their individual songs which sounded like a symphony as the breeze lifted their voices above the trees. I felt surrounded by God’s loving countenance… and I was grateful…
When I can have this kind of experience, I am reminded of the dialogue surrounding ‘living in the present moment’. Have you ever read about or been told that you should live in the present moment? It is something that spiritual teachers remind us of and encourage us to remember. Have you ever wondered how that would out-picture in your life? What does it really mean?
I am reminded of a story about a ‘strawberry’ which gives a really clear visual of what it means to live in the present moment. I thought I would share it with you…
“There once was a Zen monk being pursued by a ferocious tiger. He raced to the edge of the cliff, looked back and saw the tiger about to spring. He saw a rope hanging over the edge of the cliff. He grabbed it and began to shimmy down out of the clutches of the tiger. Whew! He checked below and saw a quarry of huge, jagged rocks. He looked above and the tiger was poised atop with bared claws. Just then, two mice began to nibble at the rope. What to do? He saw a strawberry within arms reach growing out of the face of the cliff. He plucked it, ate it, and said, “Yum – yum, that’s the best strawberry I’ve tasted in my whole life!” If he had been preoccupied with the rocks below, the future, or with the tiger above, the past, he could have missed the strawberry God was giving him in the present moment.”
