Chaplain’s Column
Grateful for the now
The holiday season is upon us. This time of the year brings with it much excitement and also its fair share of challenges.
Every year about this time I am reminded that the one constant in my life is change. One of the great challenges my wife and I have faced over the last couple of years around the holidays is how to get all the family together in one place at one time. It reminds me of the story I heard about a wise man.
The day before Thanksgiving an elderly man in Phoenix called his son in New York and said to him, “I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; 45 years of misery is enough. We’re sick of each other, and so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her.”
Frantic, the son called his sister, who exploded on the phone. “Like heck they’re getting divorced,” she shouted, “I’ll take care of this.” She called Phoenix immediately, and said to her father. “You are NOT getting divorced. Don’t do a single thing until I get there. I’m calling my brother back, and we’ll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don’t do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?”
The man hung up his phone, turned to his wife and said, “Okay, honey. The kids are coming for Thanksgiving and paying for their flights.”
Isn’t it amazing that gratefulness often grows not out of what we have in the moment but out of what we once held in the past? This can lead us to take the present for granted. Causing us to live in the dilemma of missing what we had and anticipating for what is next. We live in a next culture. By the time you figure out the phone you have, they have already offered to sell you the next.
I find myself often remembering the precious times of past holidays or preparing myself how next year will be different. The problem I struggle with is I do not appreciate the now, and before I know it, I am repeating this vicious cycle of remembering how it used to be and looking forward to the future of how it might be.
As I get older I find it humorous when I hear young parents around the holiday tell me how much easier it was to plan the holidays before the baby was born, then comfort themselves with explaining the present away with anticipation of the future, that next year the baby will be older and the plans will be simpler. At which point every seasoned parent and grandparent just burst into laughter.
Take it from this old chaplain. I miss those days of watching the expressions on the faces of my kids as they experienced holiday firsts. I have learned that I cannot travel back to past holiday moments and no matter how much I anticipate with hope for the future, there are no guarantees what the next holidays hold.
The author of Hebrews wrote, “now faith is the assurance of things hoped for...”
I have discovered to not only be thankful for those past memories and hopeful for the possibilities of what lies ahead, but to be grateful for the present with “now faith.” I want to encourage you in this holiday season to cherish every moment, be present and be grateful for the now!