Fully Present to Jesus
Choosing Stillness, Part 2

Value Jesus’ presence
As I tried to gather my distracted self to be fully present with Jesus, I thought about how easy this would be if he was sitting physically next to me. As my guest I would not hesitate to offer him the hospitality of my undivided attention. Yet I do believe that Jesus is truly present with me. Realizing that, I chose to give him that gift, and deep conversation ensued. I’m learning to ask myself Will I receive Jesus as my guest and offer him the gift of my full attention?

Choose to be present in the now
My distractions often revolve around re-working the past or being busy with the future. In doing this I risk missing out on the present moment which is the only piece of life I’m given to live. I wonder what I think I will accomplish by doing this. If I’m traveling will rushing to the front of the train get me to my destination any faster? My time is better invested staying in my seat and engaging in what’s before me. It’s the same when I come to meet with God. Will I engage fully in this time together, believing that God has something for me right now that I do not want to miss?

Realize that the world will not falter while I’m not busy with it.*
This piece of advice helps me to keep my sense of my own importance in check. If becoming silent brings up a compulsion to fill up the space with activity or to rush away to another commitment, I want to understand why that is. I've learned to ask myself: Am I willing to allow myself to be ‘useless’ for a few minutes in God’s presence with the knowledge that wasting time with God is always good and right? Since God is willing to make himself available to me, it shouldn’t be so hard to become unavailable to others for a time in order to give priority to him. The world can certainly wait and, if I let it, I return to it with more to offer.