Today’s Word from Sheila Wiedendorf…
I think a lot about grace these days, and about the futility of trying to organize time (I think they are related matters!). Yes, of course there are schedules to consider—appointments to keep, rehearsals to begin at the designated hour, children to get to school “on time,” etc. There are enough obligations to keep our calendars saturated from here to kingdom come! But calendars are not Time, calendars are abstractions of intention. I call mine my portal of manifestation—once I put something on my calendar some moment in the future begins to become “real.”
And that’s all well and good. Isn’t it a joy to be of use, of service in this world, and to honor our obligations with the due consideration of timeliness? But sometimes our so-called obligations aren’t necessarily the thing. We are human BEings, not human DOings (and yes, I am preaching to myself here!!!). It is only too tempting to keep on keeping on, remain busy with all those manifestations that our calendars usher in and not spend enough time just sitting still, breathing, being, accepting the fulness of what IS in the moment.
I truly believe that it is the radical acceptance of whatever IS in this moment that gives us sustenance for whatever right action we must take in future moments. God works in the here and now! Given the sum total of whatever has passed before us, this moment is inevitable, and this moment alone is true—regardless of the content. To resist what IS only causes unnecessary suffering—and the world offers suffering enough!
It is the deep awareness of the inevitability of this current moment, that this eternal Now, is the only truth we can know, that leads us to freedom from this unnecessary suffering. Our memory of the past is an interpretation of events—and the future hasn’t happened yet! NOW is what we’re granted so NOW is the time to breathe in whatever is, and recognize the beauty of God’s grace soaking in like forest rain.
And what a joy it is to share in this grace together in all the ways that we do!
A MOMENT OF GRACE
Here a man sits, grieving
an insufferable loss,
There a woman sits,
consoling him
Here a man sits
praying over the past,
There another sits,
holding the pray-er in prayer
Here a woman stops,
caught in a remembrance of sorrow,
There another woman notices,
offers a quiet smile
Here a woman walks,
defiant in the face of inner struggle,
There a man steps aside,
offering space for her private battles
Here I sit, quiet in this eternal now
between past and future,
There you are, knowing or unknowing,
sharing this moment of grace
Sheila F. Weidendorf
www.sheilamakesmusic.com
