The Perennial Path: An Eternal Now

"For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity. Of the present moment, and of it only, humans have an experience analogous to the experience which God has of reality as a whole; in it alone freedom and actuality are offered them." - C.S. Lewis

Why is being present so difficult for us? Our regrets, fears, and fantasies are all rooted in our inability to find peace in the present moment. On one hand, we obsess with the past as we either glorify some distant bygone era or wallow in our own regrets. Whether we cling to some hope of returning to the "good ol' days" or imprison ourselves for past mistakes, we can get lost in recollection if we don't bring those memories into the present with us and, at some point, surrender them to the reality of right now.

On the other hand, we also obsess with the future. Some of us have made the gift of the present moment little more than a dress rehearsal or testing ground for what might come later. As if reality were something to be escaped, we fail to recognize the beautiful and rare gift of being alive right now and right here. We dream of what might be instead of finding joy and peace in what is.

Perennial wisdom calls us to stop clinging to the past or the future and exist fully in the present moment. We can put aside our regrets and romanticizing of the past. We can lay down our fears and expectations of the future. Then when can finally rest in the flow of the present moment, wherever it is taking us. The only place we can encounter Divine Presence is in the present.

Eternal life is a quality and fullness of life more so than a quantity or duration. If we fail to fully live now, why should we expect to live more fully later? Only in the present moment can we experience all of reality as it is unfolding. Eternity is blooming before our eyes but we have fixed our minds on a static picture of what it was or what it will be.

So be here now with the present movement of pain and bliss, tension and peace, anger and joy. It's all part of this, and reality cares not if we reject it but always welcomes our return. Only once we embrace reality as it is do we have any power to transform it from within - to lovingly inspire more beauty and grace, to become the bloom unfolding for eternity.