By Jim Tune
Most people live their whole lives on either side of now. In her memoir, Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert writes about a friend who, whenever she sees a beautiful place, exclaims in a near panic, “It”s so beautiful here! I want to come back here someday!” Gilbert writes, “It takes all of my persuasive powers to try to convince her that she is already here.”
Often we”re so trapped in thoughts of the future or the past that we forget to experience, let alone enjoy, what”s happening right now. Most negative thoughts concern one”s past. Most anxious or fearful thoughts concern the future. An octogenarian once said, “I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.” When we forget to savor the now, our energy is all directed to things that were, or might be instead of what is.
A distinctive characteristic of depression and anxiety is catastrophizing“”worrying about something that hasn”t happened yet and might not happen at all. The flipside of worry is ruminating, thinking bleakly about events in the past. That”s why Jesus told us to savor the now. When all your personal energy goes into dwelling on past hurts or worrying about future unknowns, fear abounds. Love happens in the present. John writes, “There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life””fear of death, fear of judgment””is one not yet fully formed in love” (1 John 4:18, The Message). It”s like that old saying, “Fear knocked on the door. Love answered. There was no one there.”
We are a little like the mouse in that ancient Indian fable. The poor creature was in constant distress because of its fear of the cat. A magician took pity on it and turned it into a cat. But then it became afraid of the dog. So the magician turned it into a panther, whereupon it was terrified of the big game hunter. At this point the exasperated magician gave up. He turned it into a mouse again, saying, “Nothing I do for you is going to be of any help because you have the heart of a mouse.”
You need a change of heart (I know because I have a mouse heart myself). Jesus is the giver of perfect love, the kind that casts out fear. Jesus will meet your needs one day at a time. The life of regret and anxiety recedes. The feverish pursuit of happiness is over, and a calm sense of acceptance descends. The world is not just good enough. It is gorgeous. Everything you need to live is right here, right now. With Emily Dickinson, you want to exclaim, “To live is so startling, it leaves but little room for other occupations.” Life starts now.
Well said, Mr. Tune!