Guest blogger: Harry BrocksieckHarry and Barbara Brosckieck are retired Salvation Army officers from the Central Territory in the USA. They have also served at the Eastern European Training College in Finland.
Reflections of an old codger on developing the spiritual life.
6. Living in the present:
Present : noun - the here and now - the current time or moment
The NCCA is looking for its champions in basketball (go Michigan State and for the women anyone but UCon). I am blessed that Barbara enjoys sports as much as I do so we have watched many basketball games .The commentators have observed the following a number of times:
· "The coach is telling him to forget what just happened and get into the game.’" Or
· "He has to forget what just happened and get on with playing the game."
These comments are said after:
1) A player has just missed his 3 rd three point shot but he is a good 3 point shooter and the team needs him to keep shooting 3 pointers. OR
2) A player has made a terrific play and is still focusing on his wonderful achievement when the play is now at the other end of the court and he needs to get on the defense.
Both need to play the game now - not even the game that was 10 seconds ago!
Get into it! Be in the present!!
"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead...." Philippians 3:13
Colonel Pepper, one Saturday morning, asked Barbara the question, "Barbara, do you take this man to be your lawful wedded husband... for better, for worse?" (Barbara did not realize how bad the ‘worse’ could be.) Over these 44 years hurts gathered and piled up would make a barrier too high for us to climb over and too thick to burrow through but living in the moment with its possibilities, opportunities and rewards makes the ‘now’ rich and full and the ‘better’ he promised her.
Soon after we retired we had officer friends visiting when they received a call from an officer relative. Our friend said, "We are visiting the Brocksiecks, they live in the beautiful Rocky Mountains." I could hear the response from the phone, "Tell him to enjoy the mountains, it is the closest he is going to get to heaven." He was obviously less impressed by where he had been appointed.
We have a wonderful alcove of Aspens in our back yard. I made a sandbox for Devyn and Dylan, our grandchildren, there. I have started building a swing Barbara wants in this lovely setting. I was talking with my friend Dallas about building projects. I said to him, "I get about 2/3 finished with a project and I don’t want to complete it. It is a real chore to finish the projects I start." As I contemplated this it dawned on me why this was so, so I said to him, "I think I don’t want to complete projects because I don’t want to be embarrassed by the results." Wisely Dallas suggested that this probably comes from my father when I was growing up. "Your dad would look at things you had done and he would want to encourage you to do the best possible - no doubt thinking that someday you would be on the job and your boss would expect high quality work " so your dad is encouraging you to do better work. However, the way you received it was, "your work is not very good, thus you don’t want to finish these projects because you don’t want to be criticized." So as I work on these projects I am still affected by the ‘encouragement’ of 50 years ago. I wonder what Steve and Kevin have to overcome as a result of my parenting.
I am teaching Recruit’s classes at our corps. When we got to the doctrines on sin and salvation it is wonderful to be able to share after discussing the terrible results of sin in our lives the wonderful solution God gave us in Christ. However, the question comes up several times, "God forgives but how do I forget?" My answer is that the Holy Spirit often brings to our minds the sins we have committed until we learn the lesson He wants us to learn as a result of that sin. When we have learned the correct lesson the Spirit will help us remember the lesson and not the sin. So if you continue to be reminded of your sin ask the Spirit what lesson He wants you to learn. Learn it, apply it, and practice it until both you and the Spirit rejoice at the applied lesson that has helped you grow. Sins forgiven but remembered are devastating until they are transformed by the Spirit into lessons that help us grow.
One of the dangers of reflecting is to dwell on the past - some memory banks dwell mostly on the negative. Others may dwell on successes but I expect that is usually somewhat distorted.
You may see my accomplishments as a father, husband, friend, CO, DYS, DS, CC, TP, S/P, differently than I so I won’t give you the very long list of wonderful things I did. But to equally remember them and focus on them will also lead to some exaggerated implications.
In reality I have not had a problem of living in the past. I have not been caught up in reviewing and reliving events of the past - good or bad (at least not yet). My problem is living in the future. I used to revel in the magazine ‘the Futurist’ I wanted to be the first SA officer in space. I wanted to use technology to get us into the future. I lay awake thinking about want I was going to do, what projects to undertake, how to do them, the reactions of those who would benefit from the future. I still have to work hard at living in the present.
I did not make any New Year’s resolutions this year. An article in the War Cry by Whitney Hopler caught my attention. The by-line is :' God is always up to something new - and He wants you to join Him.’ She lists the following :
· Avoid nostalgia
· Don’t linger in any place God is calling you to leave
· Practice centering prayer to direct your attention toward God in the present moment
· Don’t limit God. Nothing is impossible with Him.
· Be willing to take risks.
Her thoughts help me to focus on living in the present. Each moment is full of opportunity. God wants to do a new thing and it is in this moment. My relationships are much more exciting when I live in the moment. By taking advantage of the new opportunities with friends as we share this moment together - not the past or the future but the present.
Living in the present: Living , plural noun - quality of life, emphasizing how real, intense or thorough the moment is
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