If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that the present moment is more fragile than we had previously thought. What we had considered as stable became tentative and untrustworthy- health, the economy, and public figures.
A phrase that I’ve written about before and am continuing to work on is “the sacrament of the present moment”. A concept popularly made known by Fr. Jean Pierre de Caussade, the idea is simple enough- God is here, right now, wherever you are and is pouring out His love.
He has not left us abandoned.
You often hear people say, “Gosh, 2020 was a dumpster fire!” While I understand the sentiment, it’s as if God was absent from the suffering that we often experience. That’s simply not true. The Christian tradition teaches that God is intimately involved with our circumstances and cares deeply about what troubles and pleases us.
Here’s a trick for applying Caussade’s phrase to your experience of a new year: say to yourself, whenever you think of it, the sacrament of this moment. Ask God to show you how He is present in the particular moment in which you find yourself.
By adding this to the phrase, everything changes.
The other day, my wife Cary was telling me about a situation in her family that bothered her. A distant relative had said something hurtful. Rather than rushing on to the next item on my to-do list, I felt the Lord whispering to me, “what is the sacrament of this moment?” In an instant, I was able to shift my perspective and be more attentive in my listening.
You can do this too.
Whether your 2020 was difficult or substantively easy, God was there. In 2021, why not ask the Lord to show you the grace of each particular moment? The sacrament of this present moment.