The instance in-between
How can we live “in the moment”? I stand in our town’s library, having walked the mile down from my house to return a book. I hadn’t planned on doing anything else here before I return, but I’m suddenly compelled to linger and read something. I’m here now – what’s the rush? But what to read? Perhaps a poem! I stroll down the aisles to the right section and select a volume by Billy Collins because he a favorite of my son’s. Opening the book, I randomly find – or perhaps am guided to -- The Present . I find a table to sit down and read it. This poem is so timely (pun intended). As you know, I have been thinking about what it means to be less bound by time, to exist “of the age.” Collins takes a wry look at what it means to “live in the present.” He likens this popular mindset to a new club that everyone wants to visit but no one has directions to. Then he toys with how fleeting “now” actually is: The trouble with the present is that it’s always in a state of vanishing. ...
