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The Future Arrives as Today – The Formed Future Becomes Now · Still, Here

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: This is still here.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: A quiet moment to remember what is true.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Listen to these words from the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 13.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: And now, faith, hope, and love abide, these three.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: But the greatest of these is love.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: We often imagine the future as a dramatic place somewhere ahead of us.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: It holds the achievement, disruption, healing, loss or long-awaited change.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Because it seems so important, the present can begin to feel like a waiting room.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: We prepare for what might happen.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: We fear what could happen.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: We imagine what we hope will happen.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, an ordinary morning passes almost unnoticed.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: But every future eventually arrives as today.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: About a year ago,
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: I struggled to motivate myself to take the steps that would move my goals
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: and dreams forward.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I often wake with an excited desire to see what I can do next.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: The future did not suddenly appear as a finished destination.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Something changed within me,
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: and that change became visible in the way I entered an ordinary day.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: Paul places faith, hope, and love together.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Faith remembers the God who has met us before.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Hope gives us settled confidence about what is still unfolding.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: Love brings us fully into the present because love can only be lived here.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: Love notices the person in front of us.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Love receives the joy available now.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Love responds to the need that is real instead of spending all its energy rehearsing
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: a need that may never arrive.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: When our attention is consumed by the future,
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: We can miss what is happening in other people, too.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: A worried face.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: A moment of delight.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Someone we love who is physically present while our mind is somewhere else.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: The future does not require you to abandon today.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Pause sometime today.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: Remember one way God has been faithful.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Entrust one future concern to God.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Give your full attention to one person or experience directly before you.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: This ordinary moment is not a delay before real life begins.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: This is where life is happening.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: This is where love is yours to live.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: There is joy here too.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: Not because everything is resolved.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: But because the present is the only place where joy can actually be received.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Hope looks ahead, but joy arrives as an experience now.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: When we keep postponing life until the future becomes clearer,
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: we can miss the grace already standing in front of us.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Take a moment for this prayer of presence.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: God of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, keep me from living beyond the life you have given me.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Let faith remember your goodness.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Let hope rest in your care.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: And let love make me fully present today.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: As you step back into the rhythm of your day, carry this prayer with you.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: God is faithful and
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Love is here to live.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: God is faithful.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: Love is here to live.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: God is faithful.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Love is here to live.
• 4:33
  [music]
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, stay steady, stay open, stay present.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: You are still here.