Right Here, Right Now :: How a Cup of Coffee Can Slow You Down

You would be amazed to know how many times I find myself befuddled by my own lack of memory.

Today, I read my wife’s status on Facebook and it really got me thinking despite her addendum not to “…read anything into this.” She made a quick and witty observation about her orange juice disappearing, her annoyance at finding that she had already consumed it and forgotten about it, and how she tends not to enjoy or appreciate things while she has them. And while she wasn’t after any deeper meaning implicit in her micro-blog, it really spurred me to carefully consider a few things. And I figured maybe you would like to consider them with me for a bit…

On almost a daily basis, I go for another cursory drink of my second cup of coffee in the morning only to find the bottom of the mug with a thin layer of brown crustiness already dried-on. The feeling is pretty crappy, isn’t it? The full expectation of another satisfying drink only inches from my agape mouth only to be shot down with the full let-down of an empty mug. It’s a downer, for sure. 

Or how about your favorite holiday? Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Flag Day…OK, so Flag Day may only reverberate with a small percentage, but you get the drift. There are a thousand or a million marketing ploys, songs, characters, sales, and programs that surround these key dates on our calendars. Much is made of them. We get excited/burned out by them. We prepare for days and months on end for them. We have special savings set aside for some of them. And yet, once these very special days descend upon us, they come and go without so much as a warning and are gone. We get so caught up in the day, we almost can’t wait for all the dinners, family gatherings and festivities to end so we can get on to resting. The next thing you know, it’s December 26th and it’s time to start putting up all the decorations.

And for those of you who are married or are considering it, good luck savoring the day! Tricia and I made every conscious effort to remain “in the moment” on that larger-than-life day. We tried to eek out every drop, remember every detail and fully live that day to the fullest, and yet we found ourselves forgetting the most simple details not 8 months later. Don’t get me wrong, there are hundreds of etched-in memories I have that I wouldn’t trade for the world. But in being so involved in the planning of the wedding and reception, there was always an “OK, what’s next” mentality whether we tried to stop it or not. And it would not be denied.

We are not a “right here, right now” people.

We are a “what’s new, what’s next” people.

Jesus said, “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” In other words, deal with what’s in your face right here, right now. Stop getting so far ahead of yourself.

One of the great tragedies in my own life is not that I am burdened by my past. It’s that I instead find myself always living for tomorrow.

Many would protest and say that planning ahead, looking ahead, moving forward, pressing on, persisting, forward thinking and anything attached to that is the way to go, and I would agree with them on most fronts. Yet I see one of my greatest weaknesses in my persistence to find the next best thing.

What would life look like if lived “in the moment?” What would it feel like to be grateful for each breath and take advantage of every situation and opportunity to share Jesus with people around me? What would it be like to realize that temporary annoyances and difficulties are just…temporary? To realize that there is life and people that God wants to reach all around me, all the time? How would that change my perspective? How would it change yours?

Can you or I live a life like this?

“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”