Don’t Miss the Boat - Three Reasons to Live in the Present Moment

Too often we live in our imagination, not in reality. We reminisce about past experiences with a longing to relive them or we are too focused on a past hurt or regret for something we did that we wish we could change. At the other end of the spectrum, we imagine future scenarios that are pleasing to our senses even if they are sinful or others that we are terrified will happen to us or our loved ones. As we spend our precious time this way, we miss the only moment that matters, the only moment that is right in front of us, the present.

So, how do we break the habit of living in our imagination? Here are three reasons that might be motivational to us in our efforts:

1. Living in the present moment allows us to rest in God and experience deeper peace.

"The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time" (author unknown). 

I learned this after the death of my 26-year-old son in 2015. My family and I had to learn to live one day at a time, especially for the first two years, because that is all we could do. Thinking of never seeing Brett again in this life was more than we could bear. Every morning I would wake up and think, I can make it through today without Brett. Thinking of the future without him, even only as far into it as the next day, was too hard. We learned that God’s grace and provision are always with us in the present moment. We don’t have the grace and strength for the future yet but we will when it gets here in real time. Living in anticipatory anxiety about the difficulty entailed in carrying a particular cross is a recipe for depression and poor health - physically and psychologically.

Most of the time, anticipatory anxiety or grief makes life so much harder than it actually is:

“I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened” (Mark Twain).

When we imagine future suffering, we do not see the actual grace that God will provide for us; we only see the potential difficulty. 

2. The present moment is the only moment to gain merit for eternal life.

In “The Screwtape Letters,” C.S. Lewis speaks of the importance of “now” – the present moment. He tells us, “the Present is the point at which time touches eternity.”

In this book, the demon Screwtape advises his nephew to distract his human patient from the present moment by tempting him to be greedy, ambitious, or fearful about the future. If the patient can be preoccupied by the future, he won’t be present to eternity.

Mother Angelica told us how to do this:

“We have to learn to live in the Present Moment. We have to ask God: What are You calling me to do now, in this Present Moment? Not yesterday or tomorrow; but right now. God’s will is manifested to us in the duties and experiences of the Present Moment. We have only to accept them and try to be like Jesus in them.”

As mundane as this can sound, this is the only way we can grow in grace and merit for eternal life. This is especially true when we are experiencing suffering and difficulties. If we only had a glimpse of all of the hidden treasures that God has packed the present moment with, we would do our best to never miss a single one! 

3. Living in the present moment helps us to grow in gratitude and living in gratitude is a means to living a joy-filled life

If we understand how pointless it is to live in the past or the future, and how much potential there is to live in the present, we will automatically live in gratitude for the chance to connect with God and eternity by living the present moment well. It is the presence of God that gives us the ability to experience joy even in our difficulties and sufferings.

“We are to leave the past to divine mercy and to trust the future, whatever its trials, to God’s loving providence. Each minute of life has its peculiar duty — regardless of the appearance that minute may take. The Now-moment is the moment of salvation. Each complaint against it is a defeat; each act of resignation to it is a victory!” (Archbishop Fulton Sheen).

Let us pray with Saint Faustina for the grace to live the present well.  

O My God,

When I look into the future, I am frightened,

But why plunge into the future?

Only the present moment is precious to me,

As the future may never enter my soul at all.

It is no longer in my power to change, correct or add to the past;

For neither sages nor prophets could do that.

And so what the past has embraced I must entrust to God.

O present moment, you belong to me, whole and entire.

I desire to use you as best I can.

And although I am weak and small,

You grant me the grace of Your omnipotence.

And so, trusting in Your mercy,

I walk through life like a little child,

Offering You each day this heart

Burning with love for Your greater Glory.

Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul, Notebook 1