Living in the moment

2 December 2020

Words Nicola Poore

Sometimes it feels like there are five seasons – summer, autumn, winter, spring and Christmas.

Just like with the conventional seasons, the Christmas season has definite markers. Seasonal foods and festive colours, Christmas lights and special songs – not to mention many weird and wonderful Christmas traditions.

We know when Christmas is coming. This year, more than ever, we are longing for a joyful Christmas full of all those familiar, pre-coronavirus celebrations that we remember so well. We mark off the days with chocolate calendars, adorn our houses and send cards. We feel it – the excitement, the longing, the hope – all building and building towards one day. One. Day.

That’s why Boxing Day can really pack a punch. The lull. The nothingness. Utter chaos, but then ... nothing. No more presents to receive, no more Christmas events. It can feel empty. We can feel empty.

Sigh. Here’s the thing – we can’t live off hype. Christmas will never live up to the hype. No matter how full our Santa sack, we will still want more. No matter how much we eat, we will not be fully satisfied. No matter how much hope we have for peace and goodwill for humankind, people will still disappoint us.

The Christmas season is full of highs and lows. It won’t all be a high. Life can’t always be ‘up’. But if we can learn to embrace the moment, to delight in the high points and to lean in to the low points, we will truly learn to be content, whatever the circumstances.

In the Bible, the Apostle Paul put it this way: “I’ve found the recipe for being happy, whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am” (Philippians chapter 4, verses 11-13).

I don’t want to live always wanting more, always longing for the next season. Embrace the present. Learn to love the ‘now’. God is with you in this moment and in this season.

Captain Nicola Poore is a Salvation Army officer (pastor) in NSW.