成人快手

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Canon Angela Tilby

Good morning.

One of my favourite film moments comes from the cartoon epic Kung Fu Panda when the wise master Oogway says to the would-be champion Po, "You are too concerned with what was and what will be. Yesterday is history, tomorrow, a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called 鈥減resent鈥濃��. I recognise Po鈥檚 tendency to live more in yesterday and tomorrow than today. Of course memory of things past is precious, and so is hope for future things, but the only moment we can really live in is the present moment. Master Oogway is right. The present is a gift.

All spiritual traditions teach the importance of the present moment, what the spiritual writer Eckhart Tolle calls 鈥榯he power of now鈥�. Jesus spoke of not being anxious, of living from trust and not fear. To be as spontaneous and carefree as the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. To do that means receiving ourselves as a gift, as though we were newly created, morning by morning.

We can make space for this awareness by a spiritual practice, saying a prayer, centring ourselves, even the deep breathing that calls us back into our bodies which are still miraculous even when they ache or play up. If we can make this space we experience time not as a whip driving us on, but as a chance to contribute to the goodness of the world and its promise. The night has passed and the day lies open before us.

Let us pray with one heart and mind. As we rejoice in the gift of this new day, so may the light of your presence, O God, set our hearts on fire with love for you.