Presence or Presents?

This past week was the Christmas Cantata at Salem.  You know, for a small church we have big talent.  Props to Bob M. for all his hard work and planning.  But no sermon this week leaves me with no topic.  As I write this I should be shopping, or baking, or wrapping, or something.  Who has time the week before Christmas to sit and write?  Well, OK, a writer does.  But that group doesn't include me.  So why am I spending my time on the computer?

I did something else completely indulgent this week.  I started reading a new book - Aleph by Paulo Coehlo.  In just the first few pages he struck a chord with this paragraph:

"In magic-and in life-there is only the present moment, the now.  You can't measure time the way you measure the distance between two points.  "Time" doesn't pass.  We human beings have enormous difficulty in focusing on the present; we're always thinking about what we did, about how we could have done it better, about the consequences of our actions, and about why we didn't act as we should have.  Or else we think about the future, about what we're going to do tomorrow, what precautions we should take, what dangers await us around the next corner, how to avoid what we don't want and how to get what we have always dreamed of."

It seems to me that was part of George's problem.  He was always thinking about his lost plans, or the dark future, evaluating his level of success.  He frequently missed the good that was right there in front of him.  When he hit a crisis he had nothing to sustain him and get him through, his coping tank was empty. Clarence helped him refocus on all the good that he had, right there, in that very moment.  He found his joy.

Just how does this tie in to Christmas, besides the busy part?  Throughout all the stories of Jesus and the disciples it seems Jesus was supremely present in the moment of their experiences, while the disciples were worried about something else - food, shelter, storm, impending arrest.  I don't really see their worries as irrelative, in fact, I understand them pretty well.  But, while the past informs the present and shapes the future, all we really have is right here, right now.  The people, the humans, in the Christmas story were able to see that and live it out.  Mary accepted the angel's proclamation so easily, Joseph trusted that taking Mary as his wife in her "condition" was the right thing to do, the shepherds left their flocks, the wise men traveled.  They were all present, in the moment.

I confess, I am a bit of a Negative Nelly - just ask my family.  Living in the here and now doesn't come easily to us (me).  I'm not quite sure if it is the human condition or part of our cultural obsessions.  The most probable answer is that it is some combination of factors, and I want to attribute that inability to something other than a character flaw. So, I am attempting - operative word attempting - to be present.  That's why I am reading, writing, baking, visiting, and not really thinking about what I am going to do tomorrow.  OK, I am thinking about it, but really trying to follow the example and be present in the moment.  The jury is still out on how I'm doing, but I think it is a valuable exercise. If only Clarence could come help me get focused.