Psalm Reflection: The Baptism of the Lord - Cycle C

“The Lord will bless his people with peace.” - Psalm 29

It has been said that those who live in the past entertain depression, those who live in the future entertain anxiety, but those who live in the present are at peace.

When we were baptized, we put to death our former selves. The baptismal plunging or pouring of water represented, in part, the drowning and death of a former way of life, and we were transformed into a new creation in Christ:

…you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth. - Ephesians 4:22-24

When we live in this new way of life, we place our hope and trust in the Lord. No matter the trials, sufferings and persecutions we face, we trust that He will provide a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13) and we do not worry or seek to control the future (Matthew 6:25-34).

This is why I think the Holy Spirit is depicted as descending upon Jesus at His baptism “in bodily form like a dove”–a symbol of peace. When we accept our newfound identity in Christ, trust in Him, and seek to be present each day, treating every moment as a gift, we can experience insurmountable peace.

And yet, peace is such a rare commodity in today’s society. We live in a world that is always encouraging us to chase after the next goal, paycheck, degree, career, experience, trend, or social media following, that we anxiously seek a sense of happiness and fulfillment that is always “not yet.” Then, when we fail to experience that fulfillment or happiness immediately (because our patience in an instant gratification culture is very thin), we look back at the past and regret not doing things differently. That propels us to try something else in the immediate future, and the cycle of dissatisfaction and discontent continues on and on and on: future, anxiety; past, depression.

I recently heard something that gave me an existential jolt. To give it context, imagine the following scenario: You suddenly receive a free, no-strings-attached gift of $4,000. Pretty awesome, right? It could certainly help someone in need and be a huge God-send, but it is not an immense amount of money and, even if we were frugal, it would probably be spent in a few months.

4,000 is not that big of a number. Well get this:

The average person lives on this earth for roughly 4,000 weeks.

…

Let that sink in.

…

How much of that time have you already wasted feeling stuck in the past or anxiously chasing after a joyless future? Tomorrow is not promised. Some of us might make it past 4,000 weeks and some of us will not. How can you have a more grateful heart and practice the art of presence so that every one of those remaining weeks in filled with peace?

There are days when I am completely chasing after my to-do list and I am irritable, anxious, in pain from the stress, and I have almost no meaningful interactions with my family, friends, coworkers or the strangers I meet because I am just trying to get everything done. Then there are days where nothing goes like I thought it would, but I try to be present and set the to-do list aside. Guess what? The list always gets done, regardless of the day I have had (well, at least the essentials do). If I only have 4,000 weeks, I would rather fill them with the latter kind of days than the former. What about you?

This week, write down 1-3 specific things you were grateful for at the end of every day. Do not write general things like “God,” “family,” or “friends,” but write what specific interactions, experiences or moments made you grateful that were unique to that day. Secondly, allow yourself to be completely interruptible and present to whoever God places in front of you each day, even if it derails your plans. Trust that God will provide the time for the essentials to get done, and even if some of the to-do list is left unchecked, nothing will explode and no one will likely die simply because you did not check a box on a list in a 24-hour time span (unless you are Jack Bauer). God has got you. 

I am praying for you, please pray for me, and I will see you in the Eucharist.

Matt