Anna Anderson
CBF Field Personnel, Rocky Mount, N.C.
“Starting here, what do you want to remember?
How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?
What scent of old wood hovers, what softened sound from outside fills the air?
Will you ever bring a better gift for the world than the breathing respect that you carry wherever you go right
now?
Are you waiting for time to show you some better thoughts?
When you turn around, starting here, lift this new glimpse that you found; carry into evening all that you want from this day.
This interval you spent reading or hearing this, keep it for life—
What can anyone give you greater than now, starting here, right in this room, when you turn around?”
—William Stafford, “You Reading this, Be Ready”
I found a little wooden sign in a store recently that reads, “Today is a good day to thank God.” I bought the sign and hung it in my office so that I see it each time I sit at my desk, pondering or writing, answering emails or spending time on Zoom. These are the moments for which I always want to be reminded—to thank God. They’re not necessarily those favorite moments, but they remind me to be grateful for all of the moments I have been given. All the moments I experience every day.
Having my first grandchild who is now two-years-old has brought me such a new perspective on living in the here and now. I knew this, of course, before the birth of this precious one, but I have been made so much more aware of the gratitude that living in the moment brings. I am thankful for the times we spend holding hands with each other, the looking into the eyes of one another, the times we laugh together, the times we experience the joy and wonder of some tiny little part of creation like a dandelion, or the blowing of the bubbles from the bottle, or the amazement at the little truck that rolls, the splashing in the bathtub and the giggling joy that sliding down the slide at the playground brings. These are the good times. These are the rewards of recognizing life’s gifts.
I am grateful for every day, every moment, that I have been given, every experience of each of those days that I carry into the evenings with me. What we have is now. That’s all. And what a joy and privilege to live in the moment of the here and now.
Serving as a field personnel takes us to places on some days that can be awfully heavy and sad. There are so many reasons in this world to be despondent and to see so much that is so wrong. I reflect on that little sign at the end of the day, “Today is a good day to thank God.” Every day. All the moments.
Pray, Practice, Ponder
Loving, Creator God, how can I thank you for all the gifts you have poured onto me? How can I live in the kind of gratitude such an amazing God deserves? Show me the ways of Jesus every day, Holy God, and help me to live like you. And let the gratitude I feel flow through me into the world. Amen.
