Sunday, First Week of Lent

Seek Treasures of Faith Here and Now.

Nouwen reminds us that God provides riches for the moment we are in right now.  Yet the mind seems to resist the present.  The regrets of the past or the expectations for the future have an attraction that can divert our attention from what God is offering right now.

Try this:  Look at how you are right now.

      Physically -- how is your body?
      Mentally -- how are the thoughts?  (clear, foggy, linear, swirling?)
      Emotionally -- how are you feeling?  what is your dominant emotion?
      Spiritually -- how is it with your soul?  what is going on in prayer (that is, praise, thanksgiving, lament, confession, supplication?)

Noticing how you are right now helps you see how God is meeting you.  God meets you where and how you are, not how you were an hour ago or how you think you should be or expect to be an hour from now.

God's knowledge of you is complete.  God offers the treasure God knows you need NOW.

Prayer:  O God who waits in eternity, help me to live graciously in the here and now.