One of life’s secrets is to be right here, right now.
Not looking ahead. Not dragging the past along with its ball and chain.
Lyric (my oldest pixie) and I were talking about Uncle Screwtape recently. Hell’s plan is to get you worrying about tomorrow. This is why walks along the creek are so powerful. It’s all about the delight of the moment.
Here is old Screwtape conspiring with Wormwood about keeping humans living in the future and not in the present.
It is far better to make them live in the Future. Biological necessity makes all their passions point in that direction already, so that thought about the Future inflames hope and fear. Also, it is unknown to them, so that in making them think about it we make them think of unrealities. In a word, the Future is, of all things, the thing least like eternity.
It is the most completely temporal part of time—for the Past is frozen and no longer flows, and the Present is all lit up with eternal rays. Hence the encouragement we have given to all those schemes of thought such as Creative Evolution, Scientific Humanism, or Communism, which fix men’s affections on the Future, on the very core of temporality. Hence nearly all vices are rooted in the future.
Gratitude looks to the past and love to the present; fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead.”
Be a Lily
Think about how anxiety works. It divides your mind.
Your mind turns to the future over and over, obsessing about what is to come or what might not come.
Is it common for humans to be always thinking ahead? Is this the way we’re wired?
Or did God create us to live in peace?
Jesus told his followers not to worry about tomorrow. Let it take care of itself, he told them. Then, he directed their attention to the lilies of the field and the birds of the air.
Look at the lilies, he said. They do not toil. And look how beautiful they are.
The birds receive their sustenance from God’s hand—from the bounty of berries, seeds, and worms that teem on the earth.
Can you add a day to your life by worrying?
No. In fact, if you believe the ancient Japanese wisdom of ikigai, anxiety cuts your life short. Anxiety and stress work in your physical body to produce disease and age you prematurely.
This is just what Uncle Screwtape wants. You, living for dying, day after day.
But God wants you right here, right now. He wants you to experience the beauty and pleasure of the eternal moments of the present.
Go Back to Hell
Tell ole Screwtape to go back to hell.
Enjoy right now. Be IN it.
The Present is the place where we can touch Eternity.
“But Tim,” you say, “I’ve forgotten how to be in the right here, right now.”
“Ah yes,” I reply, “No worries ole friend. Allow me to pass along a few words of advice.”
First, eliminate distractions.
Easy, right?
Not quite. You must be ruthless and relentless in this action.
Leave your phone off until you absolutely need it for your daily activities.
Silence email until you need to check it.
Block off hours for deep work.
Distractions rob your attention and set your mind on thinking about the future. By eliminating distractions, you are freeing your imagination to work in the eternal moment of right now. This is how deep work gets done.
This is how you created a margin to observe the beautiful moments shimmering in your day that we all too easily miss.
Second, live with eternal awareness.
I coach varsity ladies’ volleyball. And last year, we played in a big tournament, and we didn’t lose a set! During a timeout, I told the girls, “Be in this moment. Be here. Savor it. Be aware that you are making a memory you’ll always cherish.”
I loved seeing the awareness of the moment flash across their smiles.
I love The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In one story, Sherlock explains the difference between seeing and observing to Watson. He asks Watson how many times he’d walked the stairs to their famous London flat.
Hundreds of times, Watson replied.
How many steps are there?
Well, I don’t know, said Watson.
Precisely. You merely see the stairs. I have observed them.
Don’t just run through your days. Live them.
Don’t just see your time each day as fleeting. Observe the moments within each hour.
Walk outside at sunrise and observe the moments of dawn.
Observe the joy in your co-worker as you laugh over a joke.
Observe the love in your children’s eyes. Drink it in.
Finally, remember the past.
This might not seem intuitive, but it is a simple practice that we find over and over in Scripture. One example is the Psalms.
Whenever the Psalmist finds himself hurting, feeling alone, and abandoned, he recalls God’s faithfulness. He remembers moments from the past in which God sustained him and gave him victory. (See Psalm 22, 108, and 124.)
The act of remembering is powerful. Just like David drew upon God’s sustaining hand throughout his life to encourage himself, we can draw upon the precious moments of our lives to draw our attention to specific times in our lives when we experienced beauty, pleasure, delight, joy, and love.
Remembering beautiful moments helps us to live more aware of present moments.
Grab onto eternity today and be right here, right now.
“God destines them {humans} to eternity. He therefore, I believe, wants them to attend chiefly to two things, to eternity itself, and to that point of time, which they call the Present.
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.
He would therefore have them continually concerned either with eternity or with the Present—either meditating on their eternal union with, or separation from, Himself, or else obeying the present voice of conscience, bearing the present cross, receiving the present grace, giving thanks for the present pleasure.”
—C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
Announcements & Reminders
The Writer’s Workshop
The Writer’s Workshop gives writers the opportunity to ask questions about writing and the writing life as we explore various topics related to writing. February’s workshop is this Saturday, the 24th, from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.
If you can’t make the live workshop, no worries. When you register, you get unlimited access to the recorded session.
This Saturday, we’ll be talking about “What is your message?” This is the first step to preparing a book proposal or blog. Register today!
Speaking & Teaching
In addition to my monthly online workshops, I’ll be speaking and teaching at various venues this year. In March, I’ll be teaching and sharing at the Foraged Beauty Art Workshop hosted by my dear friend Daune Pitman of Cottage in the Oaks. For more information on this workshop, click the button below.
For all you homeschool families and lifelong learners, I will also give a keynote address and a fireside chat at this year’s annual Charlotte Mason Institute National Conference, held at Asbury University. This year’s theme is “The Joy of Making.” For more information on attending, click the button below.
Ahhhh...I was banking on you sharing one of my favorite Lewis quotes! I so agree with you! In fact, as I journaled last week I was questioning the L-rd as to why "I often forget to remember ". Bless you for pointing us toward this present moment when sublime memories can be made!
I really enjoyed listening to you read this post! This quote really struck me, “First, eliminate distractions.
Easy, right? Not quite. You must be ruthless and relentless in this action. Leave your phone off until you absolutely need it for your daily activities. Silence email until you need to check it. Block off hours for deep work.”
My inclination has been to grab my first cup of coffee upon waking and sit down to scroll through social media posts and emails. You’ve inspired me to leave my phone in sleep mode longer and spend the first moments of each day in the Word, reading and meditating on it. I’m going to check out those Psalms you referenced too! Thanks for the encouragement to live in the present and to remember God’s faithfulness from the past!!