No Time Travel
Savoring the Flavor of Now
Introduction
I love to watch science fiction, especially stories about time travel. As a prisoner of time, a captive of “now,” I am fascinated by the idea of moving backwards or forwards in time. In today’s issue of The Adventure of Reflection I invite you to contemplate being limited by “now” – without the ability to move back into the past or ahead into the future. I hope the depth of reflecting on “now” adds richness to your life.
A Minute of Motivation
Satisfaction of Now
No man is ever truly happy who chases after what he does not have.
Look around you. What blessings do you see right now? I see a family who cares about me and whom I love. There are special people who have come into my life who are now my dear friends. I have health, vitality, and intellect. My heart is full of faith, hope, and love. What more do I need?
Oh, I have dreams and ambitions! There are places I want to go, things I want to do, and experiences I want to have. But I do not need those things in order to make my life more complete. My life is already complete, these extras will merely add temporary pleasure and fond memories.
Everything that is really important I already have. Right now. There is nothing essential I have yet to gain. And I am not willing to sacrifice any of the essentials I now have in order to obtain what I do not have.
Stop, and look around you. Much of what you may be chasing after can be found right beside you or within you. Savor the satisfaction of now.
Note. Originally published in 1992, revised for this newsletter.
Enjoy Life More
Taste the Middle Bite
I have been pondering the recurrent experience of eating. With the aroma of impending meal-time, anticipation builds for the first bite. Then, mysteriously, time fast-forwards until the plate is almost empty. Awareness returns just in time to focus on the flavor of the last bites.
But most of the meal is in the middle bites. Where is focus for the middle? Yes, we enjoy the first bite and remember, just in time, to notice the last bites, but what happens to the middle bites?
And, it seems, much of life is like those first, middle, and last bites. The “firsts” capture attention, as do the “lasts” (if we know they are the last). But most of life is in the middle, between the firsts and the lasts. This moment, the “bite” of now, awaits our focus and enjoyment.
Pause and notice. Stop the fast-forward momentum of your day. No one can really know how much is “left on the plate” of life. Taste the middle bite. Savor the flavor of now.
Faith Corner
“It came to pass.” [463 references in the King James Version]
As a child, my studies in the Bible used the King James Version. The phrase “it came to pass” echoes in my mind from those early years. The same phrase has been replaced in modern versions using “now,” “as,” “then” and “after.” All of these references, originally using “it came to pass,” refer to time and the sequencing of events.
Using modern translations doesn’t draw attention as much to the passage of time as the Old-English phrase “it came to pass.” With the multi-century story of the Bible there is an order of “now” passing into history.
The same is true of our personal lives, the story of each of us. Each “now” is a moment in a chain of events within our individual stories. Each moment, each “now,” will pass into the next moment. Each “now” came to pass into the next “now.”
Lord, as I ponder the sequence of my life, I see an ordering of moments, orchestrated into the story of me. Help me to pause in each moment, in each “now,” and appreciate the story You are writing. Thank You for bringing these moments, and connecting these moments, and loving me through the chain of events of my story. Amen.
Poetry Pause
Empty Fullness
The house is empty –
Again.
My heart is full –
Overflowing with new memories,
And gratitude.
My energy is depleted –
For now –
Days filled with busy little boys
Now in the past;
Captured in photos;
Sealed by love.
My body is weary –
Today –
Sore from bending & lifting & carrying.
Early mornings and long days –
Packed full,
Giving all,
Missing nothing.
The house is quiet;
Toys are put away,
Bedrooms & hallway & kitchen & stairs –
Are silent.
My heart is joyous & sad.
My home is empty & still.
I sit in the empty fullness –
Recharging
And grateful.
By Cindy MacGregor, January 2, 2022.
Note. I wrote this poem after a Christmas visit of our grandchildren and their parents. With our homes strewn across the country, our times together are rich and sporadic. This poem, written in the sudden quiet following “Grandma time,” might also resonate with those whose children have recently grown up and moved away.
Old Mom to Young Mom
Is this the last time?
I remember the last time my son wore a football uniform. He lingered outside the locker room after the last game of his senior year, poignantly aware of the finality of changing clothes. In a few months he would graduate from high school and head off to college. As we stood there, together, on that Friday night, we had both reached a last time.
When he was a little boy he would give me a flurry of kisses at bedtime. This may have been affection, or it could have been a bedtime delay strategy. In either case, it was only for a season of his life, of my life. I don’t remember when this pattern of little-boy kisses ended. One of those nights was the last time.
As a grandma, I immerse myself in the world of my grandsons when I have time with them, not wanting to miss a single moment. I know how fast little boys turn into men.
Unlike that final night of wearing a football uniform, most “last times” pass without fanfare. Ordinary moments become extraordinary as they make their departure into the past. We see them in the rearview mirror of our minds and cherish their richness. Meanwhile, the times in our hands right now could become a “last time.”
My advice to you, as an old mom, is to cherish this time as if it is the last time. Ask yourself: Is this the last time? Just in case – don’t miss it!
Dear Dr. Mac
If you are curious what I think or feel about something, please send an email to: drcjmacgregor@outlook.com; I will respond via email or in this section of a future newsletter, or both. Is there something you would like to read in a future issue?
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