Life is lived better as a dance rather than a race.
Did you know we are always living in the present moment? Recently, I read this quote from David McCullough, the historian, which helped me to understand why this is true: “…history is not about the past. If you think about it, no one ever lived in the past. They live in the present. The difference is it was their present, not ours. They were caught up in the living moment exactly as we are, and with no more certainty of how things would turn out than we have.”
What McCullough is saying is that while these pages are written living in the past, they are really living in this present moment. And they haven’t a clear idea how exactly their future will turn out.
Life changing moments can happen suddenly. They can either lift us up or dash our hopes to the ground. I became vocation director for the Oblates at a fairly young age. I interviewed many young men expressing their deep desire to follow our Oblate way of life. Things were moving along smoothly and wonderfully.
Then in a blink of an eye, my mom was rushed to the hospital with an aneurism. Things spiraled downward quickly. My mother died the next day. My life was never the same again.
Yet my life pressed forward pushing me toward an unknown future. Meanwhile remembering God created us in his own image and likeness, we rely a huge part on God to assist us to grow into the person God wants us to become.
Our part is to do all we can to try to understand how we moved from our last present moment to this current present moment , and how this might shape our future. What we need is God’s presence and the Spirit’s guidance
This is necessary because we each live different experiences and travel diverse destinations over a multiplicity of highways. Every once in a while we have to pause to understand their meanings and realize clearly how they can help us shape our tomorrows. “ …(we) were caught up in the living moment exactly as we are, and with no more certainty of how things would turn out than we have.”
What we need to learn is that life isn’t a race. It’s a dance. And great dancers are never in a hurry. They move according to the music’s rhythm stepping sideways, backwards, and whirling in circles. Dancers moving only to rhythm trying to clasp the joy of the dance. Every present moment has its rhythm. Our task is to hear the music and learn the steps and dance.
Painting: Can I have this Dance? Margaret Donat, artist
