#WISDOMSample

Present in the Moment

One of the greatest gifts you can give the world is your presence. We live in a distracted world. There are always texts coming in, push notifications buzzing, email in your inbox, and Facebook posts to keep up with. It can be very difficult to cut through all the commotion in the world to be fully present in a moment.

That’s why I think it is more important than ever that we focus on being present with the people we interact with every day.

Solomon sums up this concept well in Proverbs 27:17 where he says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Another way we could say this is that when we are present in our friends’ lives, everyone benefits.

Wisdom invites us into a life of being present in any and every circumstance. Intentionality, not proximity, is what allows iron to sharpen iron. In the process of sharpening a knife or sword, there is a great amount of care and intention that goes into making sure the right parts of the metals intersect for the sharpening to occur. That is how being present works in our interactions with other people.

The challenging part about being present in other people’s lives is that if real sharpening is going to take place, friction is going to be created, and friction can be difficult.

The dangerous thing about sharpening is that if we’re not able to lean into the friction and allow it to bring transformation, then we can make the situation worse rather than better. However, if you really want to walk in the way of wisdom, then you’re going to need to embrace the friction that comes and allow your presence to guide transformation through the situation.

In the Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry captures this so well when he says, “Well, I must endure the presence of a few caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies.”

How and where do you need to be more present in your life? And what transformation do you think that will bring?