Attentive to the Present

"Envy and wrath shorten the life."

-Ecclesiasticus
____________________________________________________________________

All of us have a need to forgive, whether in large or small
matters. All of us suffer little irritating pinpricks every
day. It is not very effective to analyze these small wrongs
and then forgive them one by one. Much more effective is not
to dwell on them at all. Whenever a stray bit of wrath
arises and wants to talk over some incident from the past,
don't invite that thought in.

When we can withdraw our attention completely from the past,
it is not possible to get resentful; it is not possible to
be oppressed by mistakes in our past, no matter who made
them.

All our attention is in the present, which makes every
moment fresh, every relationship fresh. Staleness and
boredom vanish from our life.
_________________________________________________________________________

I am more and more convicted of the need for forgiveness in our community. What this means in one sense, is the attention we place on the present versus what happened in the past! If I dwell on past offenses, or hurts, and I become resentful in the present.
Mercy on us, Lord. Let us not be so concerned about the esteem of others so that we are constantly worried about how we stand in the community, whether or not we are effective, or respected or esteemed. Let us draw our strength from Your Spirit who dwells in the Eternal Now!
As the scripture says--'Now' is the acceptable time for salvation!
My prayer then becomes: "Lord Christ, save me from the grudge nursing attitude of the hurt ego. Deliver me to the present, into your presence. Wash away 'my need to be right'. I submit my own pride, my own attachments and identification with my 'precious and unique'(sic.) self, and lay all my vanity and self induced prideful pain before you. By remembering Your Love, Your mind and Your consciousness, so allow me to forgive my enemies, which includes all those who irritate and "rub me the wrong way".
May I apply your presence to the present circumstance. So help me to forgive, without conditions. Amen.

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