When I stepped outside for my run, I thought "ahh- the perfect day" (And truly, it was; I'll put in a plug for CA: 1/12/09, 73F, clear dark blue sky, bright sun.) But on to the moral...
I walked about a 1/4 mile, enjoying the day. Then I started running, still enjoying the day. I ran for about 10 minutes in one direction before a 90 degree turn. It was funny how right at that turn the wind picked up significantly. And another little turn brought even more wind. Of course at that time I realized the wind hadn't just picked up, but rather I only noticed it when it wasn't helping me. Made me realize (again) how easy it is to take things for granted when they're advantageous and get really perturbed when they're not!
It gave me a good opportunity to practice living right in the moment, vertically. Doing the best I can do in the exact circumstances I'm in right now, not comparing to past performance or future ideals.... I kept wanting to just give up and walk because it was so hard and slow pushing my big stroller against the wind. But why? Who said I had to be fast? Who said if you can't be fast, just give up? When people used to tell me "this will build character" I would reply with my brother's line "my character already has four walls and a roof"; but I'm seeing that really I'm still doing the excavation! (For the curious, I did stop and catch my breath and stretch, but then continued on slowly toward my finish, thinking of building character, not of how slowly I was running.)
Then, last night as I was getting ready for bed, I overheard Roy reading to Adriel from "A Young Person's Guide to Philosophy". And I quote: "St. Augustine said that time began for us when God created the world. This posed the question of God's existence before time. Augustine's answer was that God dwelt in an eternal present, outside earthly time. This led Augustine to the theory that "now" is all that really exists. The past is a present memory, and the future is a present expectation. This view allowed Augustine to stress the importance of what people are doing for God, not what they will do." End of quote and rather apropos, I thought.
P.S. Remembering Micah 6:8 though, I will have to add my slant to good old St. Augustine, and remind myself that all that I do for God is because I love Him so much for being The One who loves me when I don't or can't do anything! Thus, my life is for Him, not because He needs me, but because I need Him. I believe Augustine's stress was on "living presently", not "pleasing God through our works", but I felt it needed clarification, especially following Micah 6:8.
