Embracing the Present: The Beauty of Now

 

Summary

In this moment, I invite you to be fully present, embracing what my grandmother called the "shank of the day." This phrase, reminiscent of the golden hour in cinematography, captures the beauty and tranquility of twilight when the day's work is done, and we can slow down to enjoy the present. As I reflect on a recent drive through Big Sur, I realize how often we rush through life, treating each moment as something to get through rather than to savor. This tendency to focus on the future or dwell on the past can distract us from the divine presence available to us right now.

C.S. Lewis, through the character of Screwtape, warns us of the danger of placing our hearts in the future, urging us instead to commit our concerns to God and focus on the gratitude and patience required by the present moment. Our consciousness, as philosopher Socolowsky notes, is designed to include a bit of the past and future, creating a sense of flow. We are called to remember the past with gratitude, not regret, and to embrace the future with hope, as God has set eternity in our hearts.

In this moment, let go of past burdens and accept them as part of God's redemptive plan. Remember the sacrifice of Jesus and the promise of a future with God. No matter your current circumstances, you have a future with God, and today is a gift to be lived fully. This is the shank of the day, a time to live in the beauty and splendor of now.

Key Takeaways:

1. Embrace the present moment as a divine intersection where eternity meets now. Let go of worries about the future or regrets about the past, and be fully present to experience God's presence. [02:09]

2. Life is not just about getting through moments but savoring them. Each moment is an opportunity to encounter God, and we should strive to live in the "shank of the day," appreciating the beauty and tranquility it offers. [04:59]

3. C.S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters remind us that the enemy wants us to focus on the future, distracting us from the present where we meet God. We should commit our concerns to God and focus on gratitude and patience in the present. [05:15]

4. Our consciousness is designed to include a sense of past and future, creating a flow of time. We are called to remember the past with gratitude and embrace the future with hope, as God has set eternity in our hearts. [07:30]

5. Let go of past burdens and accept them as part of God's redemptive plan. Remember Jesus's sacrifice and the promise of a future with God. Live fully in the present, knowing you have a future with God. [10:26]

Youtube Chapters:

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:28] - Being Present
- [00:51] - The Shank of the Day
- [01:04] - The Golden Hour
- [01:31] - Real Bird Sounds
- [01:57] - The Miracle of Time
- [02:23] - Journey to Big Sur
- [03:43] - Rushing Through Life
- [04:45] - Every Moment with God
- [05:15] - Screwtape's Warning
- [06:27] - Pursuit of the Future
- [07:15] - Consciousness and Time
- [08:15] - Remembering the Past
- [09:14] - Projected Future
- [10:07] - Eternity in Our Hearts
- [10:56] - Living in the Present

Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide

Bible Reading:
1. Matthew 6:34 (NIV) - "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
2. Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV) - "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end."
3. Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV) - "Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

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Observation Questions:

1. What does the phrase "shank of the day" mean, and how does it relate to the concept of being present? [00:28]

2. How does the sermon describe the "golden hour" and its significance in our daily lives? [01:04]

3. According to the sermon, what is the danger of focusing too much on the future, as illustrated by C.S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters? [05:15]

4. How does the sermon suggest we should view our past and future in relation to God's plan? [08:15]

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Interpretation Questions:

1. How does Matthew 6:34 relate to the sermon's message about living in the present and not worrying about the future? [02:09]

2. In what ways does Ecclesiastes 3:11 support the idea that God has set eternity in our hearts, and how does this influence our perception of time? [10:07]

3. How does the sermon interpret Philippians 3:13-14 in terms of letting go of past burdens and focusing on the future with hope? [10:26]

4. What does the sermon suggest about the role of gratitude and patience in experiencing God's presence in the present moment? [05:40]

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Application Questions:

1. Reflect on a recent moment when you were rushing through an experience instead of savoring it. How can you practice being more present in similar situations in the future? [04:16]

2. Identify a past burden you are holding onto. What steps can you take to accept it as part of God's redemptive plan and move forward with hope? [10:26]

3. Consider a time when you were overly focused on future concerns. How can you commit these concerns to God and focus on the present with gratitude? [05:15]

4. How can you incorporate the practice of remembering the past with gratitude into your daily routine, as suggested by the sermon? [08:15]

5. Think of a specific moment today where you can intentionally pause and appreciate the "shank of the day." What will you do to make this a regular practice? [00:51]

6. How can you remind yourself of the promise of a future with God during challenging times? What practical steps can you take to reinforce this belief? [10:43]

7. Choose one aspect of your life where you often find yourself on "auto-pilot." What is one change you can make to be more mindful and present in that area? [04:45]

Devotional

Day 1: Embrace the Divine Intersection of Now
In the hustle and bustle of life, it's easy to overlook the sacredness of the present moment. The present is where eternity meets our daily lives, offering a unique opportunity to experience God's presence. By letting go of anxieties about the future and regrets about the past, we open ourselves to the divine presence that is available to us right now. This moment is a gift, a chance to encounter God in the here and now, and to live fully in the beauty and tranquility of the present. [02:09]

"For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, 'In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.' But you were unwilling." (Isaiah 30:15, ESV)

Reflection: What is one worry about the future or regret from the past that you can release to God today to be more present in this moment?


Day 2: Savor Each Moment as a Divine Encounter
Life is not merely a series of tasks to complete or moments to endure. Each moment is an opportunity to encounter God and to savor the beauty and tranquility it offers. By living in the "shank of the day," we can appreciate the golden hour of life, where we slow down and become fully present. This perspective invites us to see each moment as a divine encounter, a chance to experience God's presence and grace in our everyday lives. [04:59]

"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." (Psalm 90:12, ESV)

Reflection: How can you intentionally savor a specific moment today, seeing it as an opportunity to encounter God?


Day 3: Beware of the Distraction of the Future
C.S. Lewis, through the character of Screwtape, warns us of the danger of focusing too much on the future, which can distract us from the present where we meet God. The enemy wants us to be preoccupied with what is to come, pulling us away from the divine presence available now. By committing our concerns to God and focusing on gratitude and patience, we can resist this distraction and remain grounded in the present moment. [05:15]

"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." (Matthew 6:34, ESV)

Reflection: What is one future concern you can commit to God today, allowing you to focus on gratitude and patience in the present?


Day 4: Flow with Time, Embrace Hope and Gratitude
Our consciousness is designed to include a sense of past and future, creating a flow of time that enriches our lives. We are called to remember the past with gratitude, not regret, and to embrace the future with hope, as God has set eternity in our hearts. This perspective allows us to live in the present with a sense of peace and purpose, knowing that our lives are part of a larger divine narrative. [07:30]

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end." (Ecclesiastes 3:11, ESV)

Reflection: How can you practice gratitude for a past experience today, and how does this shape your hope for the future?


Day 5: Live Fully in the Present with God's Promise
Letting go of past burdens and accepting them as part of God's redemptive plan allows us to live fully in the present. Remembering Jesus's sacrifice and the promise of a future with God gives us the assurance that no matter our current circumstances, we have a future with Him. Today is a gift, an opportunity to live in the beauty and splendor of now, knowing that we are part of God's eternal plan. [10:26]

"Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14, ESV)

Reflection: What is one past burden you can release to God today, allowing you to live more fully in the present with the assurance of His promise?

Quotes


The miracle of time is the way that eternity intersects with this moment right here. If I'm gonna meet with God, it will have to be in this moment. So right now, let go of everything that you have to worry about what's coming up in the future or that shouldn't happen in the past, and be fully present right now. [00:01:58]

I had been expending all this effort to get to Big Sur and now I was just trying to get through Big Sur. I had wanted to get to it, and now it was just something to get through, and I thought how often do I approach my life that way. This is the moment right here that I want to get to, but I treat it as something to get through. [00:04:06]

Every moment is a moment to get to because every moment is a moment where God is. Every moment is or can be the shank of the day, kinda sorta. Old Uncle Screwtape is writing about how it is the plan of the evil one, the plan of hell, to draw us away from this moment because this moment is where we meet God. [00:04:50]

He does not want men to give the future their hearts to place their treasure in it. We do. His ideal is a man who, having worked all day for the good of posterity, if that is their vocation, washes their mind of the whole subject, commits the issue to heaven, God's in charge of outcomes, and returns at once to the patience or gratitude demanded by the moment that is passing over them. [00:05:22]

We want a person hag ridden by the future, haunted by visions of an imminent heaven or hell upon earth, ready to break the enemy's commands in the present if by doing so we make him think he can attain the one or avert the other, dependent for his faith on the success or failure of schemes whose end he will not live to see. [00:05:56]

One of the most common commands in the Bible is to remember because the past is a key part of us. One of the most common commands in the Bible is to hope because the future lies before us. There's a philosopher, Socolowsky, who writes about how our time, when you think about our experience, our consciousness, our awareness of time, in fact always includes a tiny little bit of the past and a tiny little bit of the future. [00:06:49]

We sometimes think that consciousness must be kind of like a movie where you just have one cell and then another cell and then another cell and they just go by so fast that they blend together, but he says that's not true because part of what we have is a sense of duration that we would not have if it was just a series of cells. [00:07:30]

We were designed by God to remember the past with gratitude, and so that remembering is a part of what we're called to do, and a part of living in this presence sometime is to remember the past, not to wish that I could erase it, not to regret it in that sense, to accept it, for I cannot change it. [00:08:04]

And so I embrace and accept the past and an old teacher Ian Pitt Watson and he said, when you remember something if you do it right, what was passed once before becomes present once again, and that's why in the Bible we're told over and over again to remember God and especially to remember Jesus to remember his sacrifice at the table. [00:08:28]

Human consciousness, Dallas Willard used to say, is arranged such that it demands a projected future. However old you are, however near death might be, our consciousness demands it and we cannot pretend it is not so. There's a whole genre of very clever philosophical cartoons that reflect on mortality using fruit flies. [00:09:03]

Right now let go of the burden of the past, stop resisting what happened and simply accept it as something that God can and will redeem. Remember, remember, and then reflect on the fact that you have a future, whatever your health is, whatever loss you're facing, you have a future forever with God. [00:10:22]

And therefore, today, right now, live now, live this miracle. This is the shank of the day. Have a really good one. [00:10:49]

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Transcript
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