Discusssion Question 1.1 - Distracted from the here and now?
Henri himself struggled with distractions that prevented him from living as if the “most important is the here and the now” (page 19). He says we ought to try to be “fully where we are” even for a few minutes a day (page 20). This suggests that it might be a struggle for most people. How about you? Do you feel challenged in focusing on what’s happening at the present moment? Do you see this as a problem in any way? Click on the Comments link below for discussion.
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November 5th, 2006 @ 10:03 am
I definitely understand distractions. I planned to get really involved in the discussions but fell away after the first week-pressures of work and family took precedence and I had to start planning a retreat. I am now playing catch-up.
October 7th, 2006 @ 4:41 pm
Hi everyone, I have’nt personally read the book under discussionbut I do recall reading in one of C.S.Lewis’s books that it is only when we live in the present that we can truly experience Gods grace.
September 29th, 2006 @ 10:23 am
Today, right now I made the decision to stop and ponder the wonder of all that is around me. I’ve been so scattered lately I need to pause and ponder right now. I am a chaplain in a catholic hospital in MI and am challenged so often to respond to patients, staff and family needs. I realized profoundly today the need to stop, ponder the loving presence of God with me and allowing Him to fill and refresh me. Thank you…all of you and Henri, for calling me to this.
September 23rd, 2006 @ 6:29 am
I seen I send comments to cyberspace. Here goes again. This morning I read the text on Joy within John 15: 9-12. What a gift. As the Father has loved me so have I loved you! What a gift. If you love me keep my commandments. My commandment is this: love one another. Not an easy task! But what Joy even when the Love is unrequited..altho’ the Joy may be accompanied by pain and a sense of lose or “what have I done wrong?”
September 18th, 2006 @ 11:56 am
Hello: If the most important thing is to be aware of our “here & now”, I am failing - as I am usually distracted and somewhere else while experiencing my “here and now”.
For years I have asked myself the question,”how do I know I really love God?” It is the first prerequisite in living out the Ten Commandments and I can profess that I love God, but what kind of feeling comes with this love? Over time God has been revealling little bits to help me in my quest. And after reading the assigned section about the fourth time another “ah ha” moment/gift arrived. Section 4 and 5, made it all seem so clear. Praying attentively and meditating allows God to instill in me His love for me and when I understand this - my love for God will be clear. Does this make a bit of sense to anyone? Should we try to live in the “here and now” all the time?
I have really enjoyed reading all your comments. Thank you…………….Lillian
September 18th, 2006 @ 8:18 am
Part of me wants to keep pondering this first section.
“Here and now” is a serious challenge.
Trusting so completely in a all-loving God, finding God in the “here and now” and finding the “here and now” because of God, and expecting, looking for the wonderful gifts God has planned for us everyday is so much the way of children. Especially children who are young enough to be totally dependent on their parents.
I’ve had a string of days in the past few weeks where I think I’ve finally made time to sit and pray for a block of time (talk about an illusion!). Suddenly the phone rings or a friend stops over and really, really needs to talk. I find myself wondering if I should excuse myself. I try to see this as what I am supposed to be doing right now. Conflict!!
Yet, if prayer is what keeps us “here and now,” and God is present to us through each other, too…
September 18th, 2006 @ 6:23 am
Good day all…Nouwen is such a helpful guide when it comes to living in the present. One discipline in my life that has helped me along these lines is the composition of poetry. Below is a poem I recently wrote and I thought it fit into this discussion as for me it is a poem about being present and how so much of that is about remembering.
A.M.
I.
On a walk around the convent, during dawn,
He heard birds.
The whip-poor-will, reminding, “a new day, a new day.”
The morning dove, “slow, slow, slow you go.”
Then, as he walked, the sparrows scattered into trees–Stilling rabbits and the mind of man.
II.
Last night, while you slept,
dew settled onto the grass,
the trees stayed rooted, the flowers,
like dim lanterns, hung in silence –
Then you woke and began
the assessment of another day,
forgetting about dew and trees and flowers.
September 17th, 2006 @ 6:21 pm
Testing. Hi!
September 17th, 2006 @ 2:00 pm
For me, a teacher, I have always been thinking ahead of the now, making Lesson Plans for the week, and figuring out what’s up next. This way allows little time to be happy in the present, enjoying God’s current grace and blessings. Now I’ve been realizing the joy of embracing the now moments, giving thanks for the event of the present rather than on watch and at the ready for what I have to do next. Being free in the present is one of those life lessons that took me a long time to learn. Only with more quiet prayer time, or as some say “down-time” can I be truly up and involved in the marketplace of the world. My morning prayer time is a treasure. There’s a delicate balance to be had between the active and contemplative.
September 16th, 2006 @ 6:00 pm
The Here and Now has become very important for me to reflect on because I have been on a journey with breast cancer since August 2005 and this journey is ongoing in that I am still under treatment, doing extremely well but will not complete everything until Janurary of 2007. I have stated that my life is on hold because of some of the things I cannot do but I believe reading this book has helped me move out of this stage and find joy in each and every day. I am trying to be grateful that I am doing well and appreciate what I have even though it is difficult at times. I believe God has me where he wants me to be and for that reason I am thankful. I try each day to feel His presence and be in the Here and Now. I believe that God has designated me as special as He has choosen me to suffer with Him and provide an example for others with Breast Cancer. He also has taken me where my patients have been which will make me a more understanding person. I now see how brokeness can bring joy. Henri has spoken of brokeness in many of his writings and I think each of us experiences this at times but we need to reflect on how joy can come from brokeness. At the end of each day when I go to my private space with God at bedtime I think of simple pleasures of the day which bring joy, like beautiful sunsets, time with family, great conversations, bonding with my grandaughters, and watching one of them perform her Irish step dancing today.
September 16th, 2006 @ 1:54 pm
Living in the here and now resonates presently in my life. I am married with 4 children, 2 of which have made choices in the past that they are paying difficult consequences for now. My difficulty is taking the time to enjoy the moment with them instead of worrying about the consequences their choices have made for their future. These are the foxes that I need to rid my life of remembering that God is in charge and allowing His will to be done. What a pleasure it is to hug my children, tell them that I love them, and allow God’s peace to enter my heart.
September 16th, 2006 @ 7:17 am
good morning all:
the concept of ‘here and now’ has hit home to me in a way i didn’t expect this week. i was an up-close observer of a co-worker who is, for want of a better word-’tangled up in knots’ because he is NOT living in the ‘here in now’. it’s painful to watch this man, who i do so admire and care for, live almost entirely in the future. looking forward to the day that he finally ‘gets out of this place’ and retires to what he assumes will be his dream. in the process, he is missing out on the blessings of the day and is quite miserable. an extreme case but God used it to help me realize the futility and the misery of this mindset. how many times have i done this? even in little ways that-up until this reflection and discussion-i haven’t even realized? hopefully now i’ll be more aware.
i love what our moderator Ed said about the pulling of the weeds! oh boy–that is so me! can’t wait to get the job done instead of being fully present in the actual process.
the pulling of the weeds is such a great example to me because i do love gardening but am now so convicted that i am missing out on the joy of just being in my garden, and instead I focus on what’needs to be done’ to keep it looking ‘presentable’ (what does presentable mean anyway?) I pray for God to change this in me as only He can.
blessings,
diane
September 15th, 2006 @ 7:41 pm
One theme that seems to be common in many of the posts and especially in this passage from Nouwen is the being/doing distinction. Being “here and now” it seems, is really more about “being.” Modern society has us convinced that the essence of our personhood relies upon what we can DO. What we can produce, what we can show for ourselves. We are so inundated with the notion that we must be DOING something in order to be valuable, in order to have worth. I think Nouwen’s insight is profound: God takes delight merely in the fact that we ARE, not that we can produce something to prove ourselves to him. Being “here and now” therefore is a challenge, because it forces us to confront our weaknesses, our brokenness, our fears. We cannot hide behind our possessions or our talents or our abilities. And of course that’s always a scary thing! This is why it is always so difficult for us to simply “be here and now.” In solitude, we are constantly tempted to DO something. But the distinction between being and doing can help us realize that God takes delight in us, just as we are, here and now.
September 15th, 2006 @ 11:26 am
I find that nothing wakes me up to the reality of the “here and now” than an embrace or hug from one of my children. I am forced to stop what I am doing, take my mind off what has to be done, leave my negative thoughts of anger and resentment of the past, and obviously, respond to their embrace with my own embrace. Obviously, the moments and experiences of our day do not take hold with such a force. But, the invitation is there! Always! My own struggle is recognizing the invitation at every given moment, seeing every moment as an embrace, and responding with my own embrace of who God calls me to be in that moment i.e. in the Here and Now.
Edie
September 15th, 2006 @ 7:05 am
Christa, about two months ago my 82-year-old mother fell and badly hurt her shoulder. She ended up in the hospital five days, and on the spur of the moment, I headed 150 miles south and just stayed at the hospital all five days. I brought work to do, but I didn’t do it. Mostly, I just sat and helped when I could. I surprised even myself by not getting anxious about when she would leave, when I would get to go back home to my “busy, important work,” as I think of it. It took discipline at first to remind myself that my only task was to sit in that rural hospital room. Then I just did it, always bringing my brief case but never doing any work. It was a remarkable experience. The key for me was just reminding myself often that this was my only task, here and now. I could tell you a hundred stories about myself when I failed at this — when I went to help somebody but spent too much time just wanting to get it over with and get back to my tasks, my list, my life. Those are the times when I really missed out, I know.
September 14th, 2006 @ 11:37 pm
Like all of us, I have trouble focusing in the way Nouwen advocates “living in the present moment.” My focus or perspective is governed by the “foxes” he speaks about. I live too often in reaction to hurt, distrust, fear, etc and consequently shut myself off from God, from Love. I believe that Henri Nouwen exhorts us to be truly alive by transforming our lives into and through prayer.
I have experienced such transformation in recovering from illness, when what was impossible became possible- it was pure magic, a return to the delight,wonder,utter trust and faith that we have as children. Nouwen’s emphasis on the “candlelight of prayer” touches the heart, reminding me that such light will transform me again when the world and plain old living itself pull me away from the Source. The light never wavers, remaining eternal,whole and true. It never fails. I pray to remember the light when hurt or busyness cloud my heart. What candlelight Nouwen is himself!!
September 14th, 2006 @ 10:50 pm
I have struggled my entire life to live in the here and now. I have been working hard to let go of the past - it is difficult, but a spiritual director once told me “do not hope for a better past”. How true - just won’t happen!! But I realize that when my past was the present, I was always living for the future. As Ed put it - the “next thing” will be real. In my case - the “next good deed or the next church involvement or the next religion class” or whatever, would be what God is calling me to do with my life. As a result I too, missed out on a great part of my life. I still struggle with living in the future, and looking for God’s will for me, looking for peace, happiness, and good things that might happen “someday”. In reality, I am learning that God calls us right here, right now. As Henri puts it, God loves us in the present, right now. I am loving Henri’s book. The chapter on birthdays also hit home with me - it was my birthday yesterday, and I lived each moment of the day, in the here, in the now as he suggested. It was a wonderful day! We all have more ordinary days than extraordinary days. But sometimes it takes an extraordinary day (which I would classify as my birthday) to make us realize that the best days are the ordinary days. Henri does a great job of teaching that.
September 14th, 2006 @ 10:24 pm
At this point in my life, I have an especially hard time staying in the now—the “nows” of my secular life involve worrying about my mother’s illness when I am at work, and my work when I am at home with my mother. After reading this particular chapter, I realize that what I do best is deliberately carve out minutes where I can say, “Here I am in God’s presence and in His Love. Here I feel Christ at my side, and am able to love Him and feel His love return to me.” One of my spiritual goals is to make the “nows” with God more easier and more natural to feel. It is a happy discipline to practice, though!
September 14th, 2006 @ 11:03 am
Hello everyone,
I didn’t introduce myself yet. I am a 63 year old single woman with three kids and three grandkids. I live by myself with a fish and a parakeet, and cherish my solitude, believing that God has called me to service through silence. I am disabled with a chronic disease. I struggle with remembering that we are loved because we are, that love created us, and that love seeks us not because of what we do, or because of our talents or favorite personality traits. I also struggle with remembering to sit in the quiet with Him because I resist feeling what I feel, sometimes unpleasant or uncomfortable thoughts and emotions. But when I do, inevitably I am so very glad that I did and so much more at peace, and then Remember that I am loved. The last few times I spent with Jesus I experienced myself as loving, and found a spark within myself that was divine, and experienced that there was also that spark in each of us…..
How easily I forget these things if I do not each day spend time with the great I AM. The right now, right here.
September 14th, 2006 @ 9:21 am
In his auto-biography Fr. Walter Ciszek,(He Leadeth Me) speaks powerfully about this very issue.Believing he was called to the mission field, but ending up in a Russian prison, Fr. had to give up all illusions of what his “calling” was, and realized that God’s “Will” for our lives is what is happening RIGHT NOW — this moment. As a passionate Christ-follower, I think I struggle with a tendancy of “preparing” or “searching” for what God wants me to be doing — and in the process, I miss HIM and His Will for me, right “here” and right “now”. I try to remind myself of the words from scripture, from Esther — “for such a time as this” and remember that whatever is happening this moment, in my experience or consciousness is what God wants me to focus on. For me, the faith issue is to remember that He will be there in the next moment as well — so let go and live now to His Glory!
September 14th, 2006 @ 8:36 am
When Henri talks about the hear and now; I think of what he might actually mean by that. In his writing ‘Reaching Out’ he refers to being on a subway and well defines the universal feeling of loniliness we each succumb to at various and frequent points of our lives. I am immediately reminded of a Cree man in North Spirit Lake who once told me that he never felt so alone as when he was standing amongst a crowd of people. This is, perhaps, in a sense, what Henri might be referring to. It is when we are fully present to the moment, we engage with the Cree man, speak and hold communion with him. We engage ourselves fully with the needs of others in a very mysterious, paradoxical manner; we feed our very own souls. And there are too many examples to list. The distractions of this world are powerful and effective. We are left feeling less and wanting. It is, I believe, that when we transcend this emptiness and reach out to our own full awareness in the acknowledgement, inclusion and service to others that we become more fully human. And that is a struggle for each and every one of us. Henri causes me to live both contemplatively and present to the moment of friends and strangers alike. Even something as simple as a sincere greeting or a smile is also being fully present to the moment. I pray that I do this myself, more often.
September 14th, 2006 @ 7:22 am
Aquí y Ahora: Viviendo en el Espíritu.
Así figura el título del libro de Henri Nouwen en su traducción al español.
Me parece que el primer mensaje está en el propio título del libro, la vida en el espíritu no está prevista en otra vida, sino en la que estamos viviendo situándonos en el presente.
Si solo nuestro cuerpo y nuestra mente son los que tienen la palabra, Nouwen sostiene que seremos presa fácil en un mundo que nos dice una y otra vez que no somos nada hasta tanto no demostremos lo contrario.
Vivir en el presente está íntimamente relacionado con Vivir en el espíritu porque implica dejar de lado ansiedades, miedos e inseguridades y CONFIAR plenamente en Dios.
Vivir en el espíritu también se relaciona con otro concepto manejado por Nouwen: el de hacer todas cosas nuevas.
Ojalá quienes seguimos los escritos de Nouwen logremos vivenciar esta verdad AQUÍ Y AHORA.
September 14th, 2006 @ 6:24 am
Rudi, your post resonated with me. I have lived most of my life thinking the “next thing” would be the real thing for me, and in the process, I know I missed a lot of ordinary wonderful things.
And Bernie, I am trying hard to learn that the ordinary moments are truly special — the people I smile at as I walk down a hallway, or the green color of leaves as I drive along, or my wife sharing an event of the day. This is the stuff that life is made of. Even pulling weeds became special for me this summer in moments when I focused on the fact that it was the only thing I had to do at that moment - pull the darned weed, instead of just trying to finish pulling weeds.
September 14th, 2006 @ 5:10 am
Glad to see that there are more people who find it challenging to focus on the here and now-I do find it easier to either think (get stuck?) in the past (”good old days syndrome”) or move into some sort of “destiny disease” where the future is of utmost importance-is it some sort of psychological and/or spiritual “escape route” (at times even with some sort of theological flavour) we follow rather than to face some of the painful (at times) current realities?
September 13th, 2006 @ 8:43 pm
When I reflect on my life experiences, my fondest memories come from events where I was most certainly in the moment. A lot of these experiences occurred when I was travelling, encountering something or someone new, or during transitional periods in life. These were remarkable or extra-ordinary times. The times I am distracted are during the day to day stuff - ordinary events of life that are un remarkable. For me, I do not do very well living in the moment because there are far more ordinary times than extraordinary ones.
September 13th, 2006 @ 7:26 pm
I have been working on this quite a bit as of late-even before beginning this book. I am determined to ‘be in the moment’ and absolutely do find it a challenge, although i have had my small victories!
I love how God always speaks to me where I am. It encourages me to know that we are all in this together and that even one of my heroes in the faith, Henri,found this a struggle. I especially desire this in my prayer life and have been practicing contemplative (centering) prayer. I love the thought that “When we pray, we enter into the presence of God whose name is God-with-us” (in my book, page 22) How can I keep getting distracted when I have the honor, the blessing, of being in the presence of our amazing God? This is a weakness of mine and I am grateful beyond words that God loves me through it.
September 13th, 2006 @ 1:41 pm
Seeing as how I have spent most of the morning thinking I would rather stay home with my wee grandson, than us all go out with ‘Grampa’, I would say, yes, I do have a problem staying with the ‘here and now’.
And to be honest, last evening after reading that section and thinking, “No, I don’t have that problem in my prayer time”, I spent almost my whole prayer time trying to stay focased.
Good to have you all aboard. We have a fair # of college and Univ. level teachers and professors here and then there’s me, a K - 3. Teacher.
September 13th, 2006 @ 12:53 pm
Yes indeed I do…….. I find myself easily slipping into past memories of negative incidents, feelings of being victimized etc. It is a struggle to remain focused on the moment and God’s immense love and delight in me. However when I succeed in doing so, the joy that floods my inner being is liberating. It certainly is a constant and deliberate effort to focus on the ‘here and now’.