{"id":1601,"date":"2022-08-31T16:24:19","date_gmt":"2022-08-31T20:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redchairblogs.wpengine.com\/holymoly\/?p=1601"},"modified":"2022-08-31T16:24:19","modified_gmt":"2022-08-31T20:24:19","slug":"the-gift-of-presence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/2022\/08\/31\/the-gift-of-presence\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gift of Presence"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am trying to be more present.<\/span><\/p>\n

This means I stop my wandering mind from going to the past or worrying about the future. Doing so helps me be grateful for each moment of my life. Doing so also helps me be a better son, friend, and teacher.<\/span><\/p>\n

Benedictine monk David Steindl-Rast says, \u201cAt any moment the fully present mind can shatter time and burst into now.\u201d But why is it important to be in the now? Being present provides us with many gifts. Firstly, we can take in the multitude of blessings that we regularly overlook. We can note the beauty of clouds and contemplate the giving of water by the ground to the sky above. We can observe the tender touch of a bee to a flower basking in sunlight. We can also realize the many acts of kindness that are bestowed upon us throughout the day\u2014a smile from a passerby on the Dell, the \u201cgood morning\u201d from our professor or coworker, the person who holds the door for us as we rush inside to get to class. There are so many blessings in each moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Being present also makes us aware of other people\u2019s struggles. When our minds are somewhere else, whether it be five years in the past or five years into the future, we shut off the world that exists outside of ourselves. We miss the person whose books have slipped from their bag and are now scattered on the sidewalk. We miss the person whose head is down in sadness or anxiety, that one soul across from us in the cafeteria who just needs companionship. We miss the exhaustion of a professor who stayed up all night with a sick child but came to class to tend to their students anyway. Yes, when we abandon being present, we miss a lot.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I challenge you, dear reader, to be more present. When your mind goes to the past, or when it fills with anxiety about the future, I encourage you to take a few deep breaths. Breathe in, saying, \u201cAt this moment, I am present.\u201d Breathe out, saying, \u201cI am in the here and now.\u201d Be mindful of the blessings you encounter. How beautiful your day will be! And don\u2019t forget to be mindful of those around you who may be in need. Remember that caring for others is how we make this world a more beautiful place for everyone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

May we both receive and give the blessings afforded by being present, and may we always keep compassion and love at the forefront of our practices. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am trying to be more present. This means I stop my wandering mind from going to the past or worrying about the future. Doing so helps me be grateful for each moment of my life. Doing so also helps …<\/p>\n

The Gift of Presence<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jeremy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1QIf6-pP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1601\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}