Recognition

The sunset was wonderfully unique.  It was filled with soft pastels that gently morphed from one set of colors into another, a gentle breeze, and an ethereal quietness that gently overwhelmed the normal street noise.  I found myself caught, trapped in the awe filled beauty.  As I slowly returned to my surroundings, I realized that I seemed to be the only one standing on a street of New York's Lower East Side that noticed.  Everyone else was caught in life's busyness.  It was an odd realization that caught me by surprise.  I found myself longing to scream to anyone that would listen; did you see what just happened?  Did you catch the incredible beauty and wonder of it all?  What was so important that you missed the obvious?  Instead, I stood looking after what was gone.  I closed my eyes and etched the scene into the fiber of my being.  I never want to forget that moment.
In the ordinary of life, in every city, circumstance, and event, there is something for us to discover.  The range of what you and I can find extends from the mundane to the miraculous, wonderful to heart wrenching, obvious to vision stretching.  Every moment has something to offer because it is in the ordinary that God talks the loudest.
If we want to receive the gift life presents, it starts with recognition.  My candid advice, reminding myself as I write these words, is to never assume I know what the moment will bring.  Take the time to engage and live the present as it is, forever new.  Revel in the wonder.  Experience everything that is there.  Let go of preconceived ideas and expectations.  Above all, recognize the moment, the details at hand, and react.
A writer captured the moment of one that modeled this; “As he fell to the ground, he heard a voice: 'Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?'  He said, 'Who are you, Master?'”  (Acts 9.4, 5) 
Today's mantra – no assumptions, no bias or prejudice, most of all, be fully present in each moment.