I was going to begin by sharing the day of the week, but… I can’t remember which day of the week it is. I think it is Wednesday._­ ­­It could be Thursday. My lifestyle doesn’t make it necessary to keep track of things like this: I work an ever-changing schedule, and I’m no longer in school. I take part in no social activities, no small groups, and no hobbies. The jury in my mind is still out on whether this represents a sort of ideal freedom the modern consumer longs for, or simply confirms my fear that I am wasting my precious time in this marvelous existence.

I suspect the former.

My concern these days is if my life needs more structure; enough to keep me aware of which weekday I’m living under. My wife has suggested I take up a social hobby – engage with others in an activity that ultimately produces something of value to the group. I’ve considered learning judo (I’ve heard tiny guys like me can still excel), curling (ice time sure is expensive, though) or perhaps joining a local jazz ensemble. However, I haven’t. Is idleness truly a sin, Paul?

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Do you know what day of the week it is? Do you wish you did?

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Do you wish you didn’t?

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Consider the rhythm of your life, dear friend. Do you see the patterns in your comings and goings? Have you considered the influence your daily, weekly, monthly, even yearly cycles hold over those around you? Or over your Self?

Please, with me, write down three actions you do on a daily basis. Perhaps those that first arrive in your mind – or the three you feel are the most important or significant. Or a mixture thereof, it doesn’t matter. It does matter that they’re verbs, something you actually do.

Go on, write them down. Stand up and get something to write on if need be, I’ll be right here when you return from your walk.

Done? I’m sure what you’ve written is perfect.

So, why have we written these down? To find opportunity by digging under the rocks we daily traverse. Oftentimes, we miss the easiest, most rewarding experiences because we have our modern, technologically-augmented, laser-fine focus absolutely fixated on some single, specific and usually imagined target flung into the future.

Here’s the problem: the future isn’t real.

It’s not.

Sure, we know that we create our own reality in our minds, but we still do it in the now. The future is a fallacy of evolution – it’s certainly kept us alive and it’s a great tool to ensure food and shelter when the future becomes now, but the fact remains that we truly only have the now. It follows that the things we do, the verbs we verb, are only done in the now. Ask the starving man how he values a single meal – when we have nothing but a single moment, and we come to realize this, we will bask in the quiet intensity of peace.

Back to our List of Three.

I obviously cannot look over your shoulder to see what you’ve written, so I won’t pretend to analyze the potential that’s hidden in your List of Three. But I know without a doubt that in even these three activities is hidden the lesson of cherishing the now.

So, I challenge you, dear friend. I charge you with the responsibility of discovering the now. In each of these Three you must search deeply, slowly, and attentively until you find the small but powerful lesson of the Now each holds. Each moment waits for your honest curiosity, expectant and joyful.

Go find the joy of now.

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I don’t know what I’ll do to solve my free time problem. I’ve yet to decide if it’s a problem at all. I wrote my list of three, and I’m going to explore these daily motions and see what I discover.

I am curious about you though. Please get in touch with me and let me know what your time looks like. I wonder if I’m an exception and most of my friends have a satiated schedule. I wonder if you find spare time and feel a gnawing lack of value in it.

Perhaps the afterlife is nothing but spare time and an unwavering certainty of how to best spend it.

For now, I’ll just stay attentive and prayerful.

Shalom.