A challenge that is growing daily amongst us is our ability to be fully present where we are at the moment with others, especially in terms of all the technological distraction that exists today.
Personally, I’m very aware of my own tendencies to attempt to “multi-task” when people are talking or to jump on my iPhone at any given moment, or feel the need to check the many different social networks that are available to me.
What happens is that I fail to be completely present with others, and the fallout is, weakened relationships.
Henry Nouwen in his writings gave several concrete principles on how to care and the most prominent goes back to the idea of being present.
Nouwen believed that caring means, first of all, to be present with each other, ‘offering one’s own vulnerable self to others as a source of healing.’
One does not need to be useful as much as to be present, he said.
To be present is to listen and to identify with each other as mortal, fragile human beings who need to be heard and sustained by one another, not distracted or entertained. Henry Nouwen’s most powerful expression of this idea is found in his book Here and Now. (pp. 129-130)
And Nouwen is correct! I’m committing to making this a reality, not just for myself but for others so I can be a source of healing and be much more “useful” to others. And there are simply too many things and people that I don’t want to “miss,” especially my family.
What about you?
