Have you ever eaten a meal with someone who was busy scrolling on her cell phone while (half-heartedly, perhaps) participating in the meal? Or maybe you’ve been in a meeting or Bible study – in-person or online – where a participant’s attention was on her phone and not on the group’s discussion? That “present-but-not-really-present” phenomenon isn’t limited to situations involving a cell phone.
The opposite phenomenon is being present in the moment. Your own agenda is of no immediate consequence when you are present in the moment. You are there, listening to and focusing on the friend across the table. You are there, giving your full attention to the family member on the other end of the phone. You are there, setting aside your worry over what has happened or what might happen. You are there, just as Mary sat at the Lord’s feet, hanging on every word that Jesus spoke. You are present.
It is hard and holy work to be present. We see Jesus in one another, don’t we? Then we want to be like Mary, hanging on every word.
This message is excerpted from “Here and present” by Linda Post Bushkofsky in the June 2021 Gather magazine.
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