Staying in the Moment

It happened one night, a Sunday night, a couple of years ago. I was completely absorbed in my journal as I prepared for an appointment with my spiritual mentor. My husband had cut off his long hair right before our move across country and I had taken over as his “stylist.” In the interest of saving a little cash, we invested in an electric trimmer with different length guards. Since he kept his hair to a number 1 buzz, it was pretty straightforward and I had been doing a pretty great job if I do say so myself. The thing is, he had always taken charge of setting the trimmer out, adding the right guard for the length he chose and plugging it into the outlet. My job was just to show up and trim his hair. Or so I thought.

I had become so absorbed in what I was reading, that I walked through the house, journal in hand, set it down on the counter, grabbed the trimmer and zipped up the back of his head. Suddenly, it just seemed like something wasn’t right and by not right, I mean terribly, terribly wrong. It only took about a second for my mistake to register in my mind, but in reality, that second felt like slow motion eternity!

I remembered with shock and horror that I had just trimmed my son’s hair, removed the longer guard, and left the trimmer plugged in for my husband, but neither of us added the new guard! Here he sat with what looked like a reverse mohawk. I had shaved his head bald! As I let out a shriek of shock, he quickly started peppering me with questions.

“What happened?” (as he reached back to feel this abomination)

“Did you just shave me BALD?”

“Yes!” I shrieked between uncontrollable fits of laughter. See, when God made me, I think He mis-wired my emotions. Laughter just seems to be my go-to emotion in moments of extreme shock or sadness or any other time you really shouldn’t be laughing. I was curled up on the floor in the fetal position.

I. Was. Gone.

And it only got worse from there as what I had done began to fully register in his mind.

“I have a trade show. In TWO DAYS! I will see everyone!”

My only response…more fits of laughter. Only now, I was crying to top it all off. I could NOT get a hold of myself!

Somehow, after a few minutes of this, I managed to drag myself up off the floor and proceed to “fix” his hair. I spent I don’t know how long carefully clipping and trying to fade this mistake in with the rest of his hair. It was passable at best, but we both knew it would be a few days before it was completely unnoticeable. Off to the shower he went to clean up and there I sat. Waiting.

About 15 minutes later, he emerged from the bathroom with a hat over his head and somehow he put his feelings aside and the night went on. I managed to contain my emotions the rest of the evening and tried to smooth the situation over. The thing is, the later it gets, the worse I am at containing all of my emotions.

I hid in the bathroom right before bed and spent the better part of ten minutes trying desperately to muffle another fit of laughter while I tried to pull myself together and dry the tears. It took that long to finally leave the room with a straight face. I managed valiantly to walk into that room without even a smirk. Until I saw him. There he lay, the blanket over his head and this weak little, “I’m cold.” That was it. I burst into fits of laughter all over again. I know he was putting on a show to mess with me, but still.

To be honest, my hands still shake and I still check that guard about 5 times and verify with him I have the right length before I will touch his hair. (Yes, he actually still lets me cut it!) I got a good lesson in something very important though.

Staying fully present in the current moment.

My wise confessor is forever trying to drill this lesson into my head because it is one of the easiest ways that I can get off track in my spiritual life. As he reminds me, Jesus is in the present. The past is gone and the future is not here yet. I have zero control over either one and one of the tactics of the enemy is to pull us into either direction, anywhere but where Jesus is. Anywhere but the one place we can actually effect any change.

That is not to say that we do not learn from our past or make any plans for the future. It is prudent to do both. The difference is that we do not let ourselves be consumed by the past or future. We do not wallow in old regrets or even the “good old days”, staying stuck in memories or situations that are gone or beyond our control to change. Nor do we get so caught up in what might be or in planning for a day that, in reality, we may not live to see, that we ignore what is right in front of us. It is so easy to say, “my life or this situation or project will be perfect when...” In reality, few things ever work out exactly the way I plan. Some people and situations are forever surprising me with new twists and turns and nothing is ever completely perfect in a worldly sense.

One thing I do know, the present moment contains all that we need to grow in holiness. Everything in this moment is allowed by God as an opportunity for growth, whether that is easy or difficult. It is our free will to choose whether that growth is toward God or away from Him.

So, I challenge you today to embrace the moment. Maybe that will be difficult for some of you. It may be that you can only be there a few seconds and maybe you’ll only do it once today. Try using one of your five senses and soak in your surroundings, taking in the distant sounds of the birds outside or the feel of the chair against your back. Take a moment to notice the blessings around you and praise God for the good gifts that He gives, remembering that “every good and perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17 NIV), especially the present moment.