The fog lay so low that it danced between the blades of grass and covered the winter lettuce with a thick layer of moisture. The dark bare limbs of trees appeared faded in the dense fog. It was a mysterious sight. Seeing clearly wasn’t even a consideration as I gazed out the window to this morning’s scene. I know the landscape well yet, on this morning it seemed obscure beneath the veil of morning fog.
In a flash of time, perhaps an hour or so, the fog evaporated into the sunlight and all appears sharp and clear again. I sit in wonderment of how often everyday life mimics the scene that unfolded before my eyes this morning. Many times, I cannot see what is ahead for me. My human curiosity, my need to plan and my desire to be prepared tell me that I need to know what’s coming so that I am poised to do my best. I have, until recent years, been an avid planner. For most of my life I have excelled at organizing and carrying out life’s plans. Many of my career successes were made possible by creating company plans and ushering them into existence. I think I may have been born with a five-year plan in hand!
The practice of mindful living has shifted my approach to life. Through many hours throughout the years of sitting in meditation, I have come to plan less and to intuit more. I have come to recognize that the words “present moment, wonderful moment” are more than a cliché. As my faith grows more deeply and I trust more completely, I follow that inner guide moment by moment, day by day. As these years unfold in the goodness and beauty that they bring before me there are piles upon piles of evidence that trusting and moving in this present moment allows me to savor and to richly embrace all that comes my way.
Yes, I still plan time away to visit family. Indeed, I plan my Sunday lessons. Yes, I look forward with great anticipation to what is on the horizon. Yet, I no longer fret and worry about what is coming. The words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. inspire me to step int to the unknown when I read “Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
The scripture of Jeremiah 29:11 has become a mainstay for supporting this more carefree approach to life. Each time I read “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” I remember that “the Lord” is my highest consciousness, the creative power of the universe within me. When I remember that “The Lord” is my I AM, I move forward into the unknown with assurance, faith, and courage.
Many times, I have said we can trust our inner guidance for it will never lead us astray. I know this to be true. Each time I have moved along this path of life, even when uncertain, yet following that still small voice, I have moved into adventures greater than I could have ever imagined.
So through the fog, I walk knowing that a clear vision shall be revealed in the perfect item in the perfect way – this is the spiritual law of divine order. As I journey through life, I may live as easily as the lilies of the field as Matthew 6:28 reminds me. “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” I may live confidently knowing that the universe in all of its splendor and abundance is more than enough to meet my every need. I am free to live as the birds of the sky as described in Matthew 6:26 “Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns…” Like the birds, I shall take freely of the universe all that is mine to take – no more, no less – and I shall be satiated by the richness of life always.
With these thoughts securely set in my mind, I step into this day. I can hardly wait to see what adventures unfold. “Present moment, wonderful moment “.