It seems that I often live a week, month, or even year ahead of the present moment. You may do this, too. I’m constantly conspiring, seeking ways to enrich the lives of the beautiful souls who entrust their spiritual care to me and also the countless others I feel compelled to reach with the Good News of Jesus. So it is that in the fifth week of Lent I find myself preparing for Holy Week with an eye set on Easter and the season beyond. The promise of summer rest is seductive.

With all that’s going on in the world and in our lives, it can be difficult to settle into the moment at hand. It’s hard to be at rest in the beauty of a second. Yet this very second, this moment, as fleeting as it is, is all any of us truly has. The past and the future are beyond our control.

I take a breath, inhaling the cool rainy air streaming through my study window. Cars are rushing on High Street. The air is punctuated by a Harley’s drone. A lone bird chirps in a budding tree, no longer drowned out. Such is this moment. And, of course, I’m writing to you.

How very important it is for each of us to learn to appreciate the moment at hand. I wonder how Jesus lived his moments? I wonder how Jesus looked upon the world and what he saw? I wonder what he heard and how he listened? I wonder how he perceived the beauty in the landscape and the goodness in everyone around him? Oh to see and listen and perceive as Jesus did in this moment.

As we enter Holy Week and remember our beautiful Savoir giving every last breath for us, perhaps we could strive to live more fully in each moment. Let us in each moment be mindful of Jesus and strive to see the world and all we encounter as Jesus would. I imagine soft eyes, a gentle word, a knowing gaze, and belly wrenching laughter.

What beauty! What promise! What peace, even in the face of a violent and unforgiving world that seeks to snuff out all goodness.
The only thing any of us truly has power over is the way we live a moment, the hope we see, the Godliness we perceive, the love we invest in it.

Holy Week offers us an opportunity to remember the love Jesus has for each of us and all creation. It is an opportunity to pause, to wait, to expect, and to remember a love so great it conquered death. In gratitude to our Savoir, let us live each moment this week in a way that echoes the life of our meek and lovely Jesus.