Changing Seasons, Sitting Still: The Importance of Being Present
“Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil” (Matthew 6:34).
As the air becomes crisp and the leaves start to change color, most of the people around me leap into picking apples, buying cinnamon broomsticks, and taste-testing pumpkin goods without hesitation. As for me, I mourn the loss of swimming outside, long days, and excuses to explore.
A summer girl through and through, this turn of the season is especially cold as I am reminded another year has passed of “real adult working life.” While fall used to be filled with school shopping and seeing old friends, I’m realizing that this season now pushes me into a state of fear about my state in life and career. Have I done what I thought I would be doing at this point in my life? Am I working on myself personally, spiritually, physically, and professionally? Am I enough?
Perhaps these questions are good ones to think about, but without being rooted in my primary identity as a daughter of God—a child who has dignity not because of what I do but simply because I am—it is a concoction of the ingredients of a quarter-life crisis.
Being a young professional in the wake of the pandemic has been difficult for a host of reasons. It has been hard to tell what is normal in the workplace. It’s as if I am swimming in a sea of seemingly limitless options, agonizing over each move and primarily engaged with the future.
As fall continues, I can feel the temptation from the enemy to focus on time and how it is “slipping”—to focus on what I haven’t done or what I should do later instead of turning my attention to the present moment.
The Temptation of Time
The restless preoccupation with yesterday or tomorrow is an age-old temptation. Too often, living in the past or the future robs us of encountering God. We put off today’s tasks, replacing them with endless to-dos for tomorrow. We dwell on mistakes while failing to ido anything about our habits. And so the cycle goes. The beauty of the here and now is that it is the only time we have to work with and the time where God can work with us.
C.S. Lewis captures this reality in his novel “The Screwtape Letters,” which consists of the fictional correspondence between two demons. In the 15th letter from Screwtape (an experienced demon) to his nephew Wormwood (a novice demon in charge of the damnation of a man), Screwtape explains:
“He [God] therefore, I believe, wants them [humans] to attend chiefly to two things, to eternity itself, and to that point of time which they call the Present. For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity. Of the present moment, and of it only, humans have an experience analogous to the experience which our Enemy [God] has of reality as a whole; in it alone freedom and actuality are offered them...The duty of planning the morrow’s work is today’s duty; though its material is borrowed from the future, the duty, like all duties, is in the Present. This is not straw splitting. He does not want men to give the Future their hearts, to place their treasure in it. We [demons] do… We want a whole race perpetually in pursuit of the rainbow’s end, never honest, nor kind, nor happy now, but always using as mere fuel wherewith to heap the altar of the future every real gift which is offered them in the Present” (emphasis added).
A “Present” Mindset
To counteract the coaxing of the devil, we need to maintain a present perspective.
Keeping the present as the default state of mind is a daily commitment. Often, it is even a moment-by-moment or task-by-task commitment. It requires a combination of working on one task at a time, practicing gratitude, and praying. This trifecta can help us bear the present cross, receive the present grace, be thankful for the present pleasure, and open us up to God’s present working in our life.
Simple phrases such as “Lord, make haste to help me,” “Thy will be done,” or “I’m stressed; be here with me” invite the Holy Spirit into each task of the day and keep you grounded in time and grounded in Him.
While I cannot stop the leaves from dying and the days from shortening, I can tune my perspective to meet God in the now and see how He is working in my life. By entrusting each part of my day to God, I help sanctify it and can alleviate my fear of not having enough time.
Join me in praying to stay present with these words from the diary of St. Faustina (whose feast day is October 5):
Oh My God,
When I look into the future, I am frightened,
But why plunge into the future?
Only the present moment is precious to me.
As the future may never enter my soul at all.
It is no longer in my power to change, correct or add to the past;
For neither sages nor prophets could do that.
And so what the past has embraced I must entrust to God.
O present moment, you belong to me, whole and entire.
I desire to use you as best I can.
And although I am weak and small,
You grant me the grace of Your omnipotence.
And so, trusting in Your mercy,
I walk through life like a little child,
Offering You each day this heart
Burning with love for Your greater Glory.
Marissa Vonesh works as the lead graphic designer for Moment magazine in Washington, D.C. A native to Northern Arizona and adventure junkie, she is no stranger to hiking, spontaneous road trips, and midnight adoration sessions. Visit her work at marissavonesh.com, or connect with her on Instagram.