Leave It Behind

A woman that I work with is leaving this weekend to fulfill a lifelong dream – she’s visiting the Holy Land. Widowed for 3 years, she’s understandably nervous, but excited too.  It’s been a struggle the last few years, and to say that she’s been frugal to be able to afford this trip is an understatement. She’s still worried about what the lack of work for a few weeks will do to her finances.  Her daughter – wise woman that she is (although I’ve never met her) – gave this woman a Bon Voyage box, filled with small, necessary travel items, Bible verses of encouragement, and an admonishment to “leave it behind.”

Leave what behind?

The routine, the bills, the responsibilities, the worries, uncertainty, doubt and fear.

My daughter is on a boat in the Bahamas with my sister-in-law’s family, docking for a day or two here, and a day or two there.  Really, just living moment to moment.  “Island time,” my daughter keeps telling me.  Truly, they’ve left it all behind.

While most of us can’t leave it behind in such a grand fashion, aren’t we meant to be living moment to moment? What if we actually lived that way?  Moment to moment, I mean.

What if we didn’t remember the failures and hurts of the past and also didn’t let the fear of an unknown future hold us in its talons?  What would it look like?

Maybe…

Joy.

Peace.

Contentment.

Maybe we could breathe, inhaling all that life – God – has and is offering.

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow,

for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.

      Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.  

Matthew 6:34

Your tomorrow has bills to be paid, you say, children with snotty noses that need to be wiped, aging parents to tend to, yards to be mowed, dishwashers to be emptied.  But what if you just take care of those things, and leave the rest behind?

Pay your bills as best you can and know that God has taken care of your needs.

Wipe the noses and rejoice that you are needed.

Take your elderly parents to the doctor and be grateful they’re there.

Mow your yard and smell the ripeness of spring.

For this weekend, leave all the other stuff behind.  

Like any young mother knows, the pile of laundry will still be there in the morning.  Anyone in business knows that the emails and voice mails will be waiting for the next day.

Things wait, so you can afford, for a short time, for this weekend, to leave it behind.

Maybe this weekend will be the start of a habit learning to leave it behind, a habit learning to live in the moment.

This is YOUR moment.  That last moment?

Leave it behind.