The Present

As a kid I remember being part of clubs and activities, including school, when the roll was called and we were to respond, “Present!”

Present! It means being physically in the place where the roll is being called. It means you are in that one place and as such cannot be anywhere else. However there are times when we may be there in body but emotionally and mentally somewhere else aren’t there?

Yesterday I had an unusually high volume of people traffic in my life through email, phone and face-to-face encounters. As I reflected on that this morning in my journal, I realized that in some of those conversations I was multitasking. In other words I was present in some sense but not fully present in another; I did not give the other person the benefit of my full attention and as such missed an opportunity to fulfil my personal mission.

My mission is to lead by example, education and encouragement in being a person of absolute integrity. Absolute integrity is what I believe Jesus demonstrated in His life and I want my life, as imperfect as it is, to increasingly reflect His character.

So how did I miss my mission yesterday?

Henry Cloud in his book “Integrity” defines it as “meeting the demands of reality.” In other words, integrity is being all present and attentive to what is happening in the moment. Yesterday I missed some moments and while physically present in some conversations, I was mentally and sometimes emotionally somewhere else. As such I missed the full impact of the moment, the only time I had control over and the only real opportunity I had available to me. I did not demonstrate integrity, or wholeness as Jesus did.

Jesus gave His full and undivided attention to the situations immediately at hand; He didn’t put people off or treat them as unimportant but He focused on them and they had His full attention. He was present and He was demonstrating integrity; being in the moment with His mind body and soul.

I have often taught that the only time we have is now, yesterday is past, the future is a mystery and today is a gift, that’s why they call it “the present.” However I find myself sometimes devaluing my gift by not seeing it as a present and the only opportunity I have to actually fully reflect Jesus’ character and focus on that which is at hand without thinking or wishing I was somewhere else, doing something different or seemingly more important. Jesus never did that and neither should I.

The reality is that I can never actually guarantee that I will fully accomplish the other things that my mind thinks about when I am doing something else and as such I have missed the gift God has given me in the present. Each day I pray that God would use me to reflect His character and be Jesus to someone. As such I must assume that whoever I am engaged with at the time is an appointment arranged by God in response to my request. As such I need to be fully present in order to be Jesus to that person.

As I think about that at this time of year, it seems to me that the greatest gift we can give to people at Christmas can’t be bought. The greatest gift we can give a person is to be fully present when we are with that person.