Please use this discussion thread for Consent #5.

quote:

...what would it mean to live more fully in the present moment?

It would mean that one would find oneself at the gateway to a state of Prayer. A quieting of our inner chatter, so that we may hear Him, and breathe each moment in His presence.

It would mean that we are practicing letting go of that in us which forms hindrances to the workings of Grace.

It would mean greater freedom from emotions -- in order to embrace Feeling. It would mean walking "The Path with a Heart".

It would mean meeting others, and each moment, with empty hands, rather than being weighed down by the crippling baggage of endless "shoulds".

And it would mean (to use Martin Buber’s spot-on terms) that we would more be able to speak the essential word I-Thou (instead of I-It) to all our fellow beings.

-- HeartPrayer

Living the present moment to me is being open to the Lord and His Graces and doing in faith what is asked once discerned. i have learned to let go of so much over the years but it is a much lighter yoke and a wonderful journey w/ the Lord living in the present moment and knowing His grace will be there to guide you in faith and love as long as you are open to it and ask....

To me this is the hardest most difficult task to accomplish due to my stroke. My mind tends to be unfocused and has difficultly finding a path this is where I have to take control and ask God's Guidance and move forward It is like a child Holding out it's hands tofor help because you are afraid to go alone. I'm never quite sure which way the brain will lead me but trust that somehow God will be there to show the way. I can't tell you how much trouble I've gotten into though...... Thank God for the Irish sense of Humor

5b: "The more fully we can live in the present moment the closer we come to eternal life... it helps enormously if we stay close to its door, attentive to its cracking open and blessing us with something of the divine perspective." I like this concept and think it right but also very mystical. Is there any way to 'bring it down to earth' some more? I mean, is there a scriptural backing for this idea? Some biblical story to ground it?

I guess the scripture that grounds this idea for me is the one from Isaiah 55:6. "Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near..." It stands to reason that in the span of all time, the only moment which finds God available to us is the present moment. God is certainly eternal-- meaning that the past and the future are present to God at any moment as well. Yet we, as creatures are limited to right now. So, if we are going to find God (or God is going to find us) it will have to be right now. Or maybe right now... or right now. So we are restricted by time but God is not. In our restrictions as incarnated beings we have to awaken to the reality that anytime we encounter God it is in the present moment. Even if we look for God in our past experiences we are doing so right now. So... when will I meet with God? This moment... and this one... and this one too!