What about now?

If you have stuck with me so far, you’ve learned a few things about my nature and habits.  You probably have picked up that I read a lot and have had my own set of life’s troubles. I have doubts and fears, and am well, wonderfully (I hope) a basic error filled human. 

I also am of German descent, was brought up partly by my maternal Oma, who not only was a sewing (by hand) master, but also had a huge German Bible next to her favorite chair.  I recall seeing her bookmark march through the pages from front to back, only to begin at Genesis again. My Oma, could cook, can, plant, harvest, sew, make lace and much, much more, but she probably left school around 15. Though she was very devout, I often wondered if she understood everything she read in that good book. We did not have conversations about faith or God; other than her instructions to me to pray and have faith. This exposure made me curious about my German heritage; a country I would not visit until nearly thirty.

Not only did I minor in German, but I also investigated and studied German history to get a better understanding of the land, its people, customs, and origins. Yes, both good and bad. Most notably I discovered the differences in sensibilities, the stoic outlook of my grandmother, but also that of my uncles and grandparents from my father’s side when they visited. I noted that German children’s stories were more (often harsh) lesson driven than American happily ever after tales. So of course, I’d read when first popular, “The Power of Now; A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment” by Eckhart Tolle, a German “spiritual teacher” and self-help author. That same quiet I saw in my own family members resides in his writings.

In short, Tolle encourages readers to be present in the current moment. He expounds on the uselessness of thinking in the past, which is in the past and we cannot change, or a future that has not happened yet. (aka Disney’s Lion King “Hakuna Matata!”) This level of “presentness” is so very difficult to obtain.  It makes me again think of the German “Naturverbundenheit” a deep love and connection to the natural world. It is a human’s escapism to nature to reground and recenter oneself.

Such presentness, with God and nature is perhaps best expressed in Genesis, when God is first alone with His creation. My grandmother would have read in her German bible: "Und nannte das Licht Tag und die Finsternis Nacht. Da ward aus Abend und Morgen der erste Tag." (Luther Bible).

Now from the Hebrew: And Elohim called the light Yom (Day), and the darkness He called Lailah (Night). And the erev (evening) and the boker (morning) were Yom Echad (Day One, the First Day - Bereshis 1: 5 OJB (Genesis 1:5)

We engage with the world and nature not only with our senses, but also with the words we use to describe these experiences. As I read these translations, and consider my readers’ primary languages may not be English, that our presentness with the Word and our natural world is tied also to cultural worldview and language. Understanding these can get us to the “Now” of oneness with our God.

For me this idea of “Now” is not only about being present, but engaging in the now fully, while acknowledging my baggage. So, what about now? Isn’t now, the best time to do, be, act, experience and love as God intended?

I loved my grandmother, but my brave Oma, collected beautiful linens, good China, and more, which she stored these away for a someday that never came for her.  This makes me profoundly sad; I don’t want to live like that.  When I think of Genesis and God there acting, being present, being Love, I am in awe. I am struck dumb by His example of “Now” action.

1.      Are you present? Are you actively present?

2.      Are you “storing” yourself for future use? Would this please God?

3.      Are you being called to any “Now” actions? If so, what are you going to do about that?