“The average person looks without seeing,
listens without hearing,
touches without feeling,
eats without tasting,
moves without physical awareness
and talks without thinking.”
Leonardo da Vinci
Author Joan Chittister tells the following story of a conversation between a wise one and their disciple:
“Where shall I look for enlightenment?” the disciple asked.
“Here,” the wise one said.
“When will it happen?” the disciple asked.
“It is happening right now,” the wise one answered.
“Then why don’t I experience it?”
“Because you don’t look.”
“What should I look for?”
“Nothing. Just look.”
“Look at what?”
“At anything your eyes light on.”
“But must I look in a special way?”
“No, the ordinary way will do.”
“But don’t I always look the ordinary way?”
“No, you don’t.”
“But why ever not?”
“Because to look, you must be here. And you are mostly somewhere else.”
“You are mostly somewhere else.” And where might that be? Perhaps Chronos time, watching grains of sand slip through the hourglass? Or scheduling reminders: pick up the kids at 3, make dinner at 5, go to meeting at 7? What time is it? Time to take a shower, time to eat lunch, time to watch our favorite show.
It is looking past the present to the next thing, and the next, and the next …
It’s the moments where we encounter God that define us, not the items on our agendas. Moments with friends and loved ones … warm conversations … the beauty of light streaming into your window … the “Aha” moment when you finally understand something.
That, of course, is Kairos time: holy moments in the midst of everyday happenings. Although aware that it will not last forever, in that moment, it is everything. We miss the Kairos moments when we are looking somewhere else. When we are being somewhere else.
“Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery it is.
In the boredom and pain of it, no less than in the excitement and gladness:
touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it,
because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.”
Frederick Buechner
Wherever you are – be all there.
Jim Elliot