"Daily" Life

“Let us remember that the life in which we ought to be interested is “daily” life.  We can, each of us, only call the present our own. . . Our Lord tells us to pray for today and so he prevents us from tormenting ourselves about tomorrow.  It is as if (God) were to say to us:  “(It is I) who gives you what you need for this day.  (It is I) who makes the sun to rise..  (It is I) who scatters the darkness of night and reveals to you the rays of the sun.”

Gregory of Nyssa, On the Lord’s Prayer

I read this passage this morning in the opening pages of “The Quotidian Mysteries” by Kathleen Norris.  “The Quotidian Mysteries” is a book I’ve read before and that I go back to from time to time for words of inspiration, but the words that stayed with me all day today weren’t the words of Kathleen Norris - they were these words of Saint Gregory.  

It’s difficult to be interested in daily life through the cold gray days of winter - I’m too eager for these days to pass and Spring to come.  When my mind and imagination are focused on what I long for, I miss out on the joy that gratitude for the blessings of today would bring.  Those blessings are many - God gives me what I need and more.  

And so each day I’ll savor that first cup of hot coffee.  I’ll linger at the kitchen window and watch the purple finches at the feeder.  I’ll give thanks for the man who has loved me for over 40 years and I’ll hold his hand gratefully as he asks God to bless our evening meal.  I’ll crawl in my warm bed with a stack of books on the nightstand and give thanks for a comforting end to another day.

"Being fully present in the now is perhaps the premier skill of the spiritual life."  

Brennan Manning