One day a couple months ago close to Thanksgiving...as I rushed out the door to go run a couple of errands, I forgot my phone on a 15 minute errand and it reminded me of a time in the past prior to cell phones. I looked at the people and the cars around me....the trees and the sky and the storefronts and the beauty around me. In that time of not having my phone rushing around at Thanksgiving, I reflected on past thanksgiving traditions and how I remembered what it was like as a child to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house and remembered how simplistic life really was. I had a hard time finding the title of this blog because I really wanted to encourage you to just "be"; however, in the midst of forgetting my phone, I had forgotten how simplistic it feels to "be" without communication. Without a cell phone. I was more aware of the things around me. And in that 15-20 minutes I thought of 20 things I could be doing with my phone. Text this person this. Email that person. Follow up on a real estate lead. Check on another friend. But I didn't. I realized we are passing through each day doing too much. And even still in our society of social media and instant communication and the go go go all the time, we feel guilty of not doing more and more. But in fact, we are doing more harm by doing more. We are missing. We are missing our children growing up. We are missing the daily changes of the seasons. We are missing the waves and the smiles of each passing person. We are missing the birds chirping in the back yard. We are missing the importance of the very existence of being and the point of why we are here. So I challenge you today to force yourself to have much more than 20 minutes without your phone today and just ....be present.
Scriptures relating to being present:
Psalm 23:2 He makes me lie down in green meadows; He leads me beside still waters.
Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the whole world.
Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it's own