Living in the Present Moment In Bone Crossed, by Patricia Briggs, the main character, Mercy Thompson, is captured by a cruel and violent vampire. To manage her fear as she waits in a cage for the torment she knows will come, she reminds herself to stay focused on the present moment. She won’t let herself think about the past or the future, not even the next second. Whenever she finds herself imagining what might happen, she snaps herself back to this instant, to what she sees and hears and smells. She doesn’t even allow herself to judge or analyze what she’s experiencing. That way, she can avoid the thoughts that…
-
-
Joy in the Midst of Sorrow that Arises Out of Love
Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy. Psalm 47:1 (NRSV) Joy and the Weight of the World Today, I don’t feel joyful. It seems the weight of the world is smothering me. Not only does the news distress me, but so does my reading material. This time, it’s Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, a book about his career as a defense attorney for disenfranchised and economically-disadvantaged death row prisoners. He tells the stories of young men whose trials were a sham, with invented evidence and juries purposely selected to be unfriendly toward them. Throughout our country, a fearful and angry white population has…