Saying ‘Yes’ to the Present Moment
by Nancy R Bowers, RScP
“I do not know what anything is for,” ~Lesson 25, A Course in Miracles
“Always say ‘yes’ to the present moment. What could be more futile, more insane, than to create inner resistance to something that already is? What could be more insane than to oppose life itself, which is now and always now? Surrender to what is. Say ‘yes’ to life – and see how life suddently starts working for you rather than against you.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now
Pause. As I slowly breathe into this moment, I release any and all ideas of what or how it should be and simply allow. No judgment. No comparing and contrasting, just noticing free of the notion that I know anything. Without the mind’s preconceived ideas, life just is. The unfolding is neither good nor bad, it just is.
I reach for delight. In the space of unknowing, I discover wonder, curiosity, the desire to go deeper. Without the mind’s labels, I connect with Reverence. Freed from the past, I notice Presence. I laugh each time I see ego trying to stuff infinity into my limited perceptions. This is the insanity of thinking I know things. I eliminate the opportunity to learn. I efface the beauty that is strutting its stuff before me. By thinking I know what “should” be, I miss what is.
Pause. I remind myself that living life as a meditation, emptying my mind each time I notice the noise, is the way back to sacred ground. No judging. No condemning, not even exalting. Just being. Just allowing myself to be wrapped in the stillness. I return again and again to the remembrance of Spirit’s perfection. Love it forever here. Peace is eternally now. They are never absence, only sometimes unnoticed by the mind that thinks it knows things.
I delight even in the noticing of the myriad ways ego reaches for dissatisfaction. Its lunacy is hysterical. It spins tales based on suppostion. Its yarns are fabrications but it tries to stand on them like they are absolute truths instead of ego stories. Again and again, it tries to assume the role of authority, capitalizing on what it thinks it knows. When I remember, it is a constant source of endless amusement. When I forget, I reclaim misery.
Choose again. “I could see peace instead of this,” lesson 34, Course in Miraces.
It is all just a game of hide and seek. I pretend I am separate from God, and lose my million-dollar view in the process. But it is all fine. I never did know what anything was for, so its pointless to try to direct life. I step back. I let God lead. I’m ready to see what He/She/It has for me. I so prefer living in the mystery.
And so it is. Amen.