And This Moment, too, is Sacred

I have been asking myself a question lately, How do I make each moment sacred?  Can I take the internal space to savour this time, knowing that it will never come again?  How do I resist the urge to let the Now slip through my fingers as though I had all of the time in the world, as though I could return and do NOW all over again?

For this NOW is truly all that we have.  This precious moment of sunlight on the snowy crotch of the catalpa; this smell of oatmeal simmering on the stove; this glance of a loved one from across the room; this ringing of the phone to ask the question, ‘are you keeping warm?’ this fleeting time.  How do we treasure what we have while it is here?

This thing we name Time is so fleeting that we have convinced ourselves that we must keep pace with it, forgetting that we created Time to begin with.  The pace at which we live our lives is a bit like the tail wagging the dog.  We forget that taking a moment to stop, to rest, to reflect is our right.  We slide through days, allowing them to merge into last week or next month before we even realize how precious this fleeting moment truly is. 

Here, at the dark-of-the-moon, we are given a time to stop, a time between the completion of the cycle passing and the rush of that which-is-to-come.  Right now we have the chance to breathe into what we have; who we are.  Right now, in this very moment. 

So stop. 

Stop reading this blog for a moment. 

Let your hands relax into your lap.

Let you eyelids soften.

And breathe.

Let the breath that supports you fill you up and then gently leave you empty.

Do it again.  And again. 

With awareness.

Open your senses.

What do you smell, now?

What do you hear, now?

What do you savour, now?

Remember, this moment, too, is sacred.

Give a moment of gratitude to yourself for this opportunity to pause and acknowledge the sacredness of this moment, of each moment, before returning to the business of living.