Dogs, cats and GPSs...

“Healing cannot be accomplished in the past. 

It must be accomplished in the present to

release the future. This interpretation

ties the future to the present,

and extends the present

rather than the past.”

Schucman, M. – A Course in Miracles

Dogs, cats and global positioning systems (GPS) – gotta love them.

What to they have in common, you say?  Ah, that is the question is it not?

It didn’t strike me at first.  I was so enamored with the technology I did not see it.  I mean, it was easy to get seduced by how well those things work.  Instead of memorizing the route to a place never before visited, just plug in the address and off you go!  It is practical, time saving, and relatively inexpensive…for what GPSs do, it doesn’t get much better.

This kind of technology is mind bending for someone my age.  The very idea you could put an address into a small transmitter/receiver and have it guide you BY VOICE to the place you have in mind, is really beyond the pale.  “Just a part of life,” you say??

It is hard for younger people to appreciate this, but as a kid in West Virginia we did not have dials or buttons on our telephones! 

“Operator…number please?” a pleasant voice would say.  Fairmont, West Virginia was small enough that the phone numbers were only four digits.  Our family’s? “7748.”  It was another time in this country.  The idea of carrying a mobile phone in your pocket wherever you go?  There was no way to even conceive of it then.

Back to that GPS…

The great thing about these devices is that they do not blame, recriminate, accuse or belittle my inability to sometimes follow their instructions.  Case in point.  I do not always pay attention and occasionally miss a turn.  When that happens, the thing DOES NOT raise its voice and say, “Hey, you missed the turn!” or “I knew you were going to go right by that street!” or, “I’m sorry, were you NOT paying attention??!!”  No sir, with a completely dispassionate and gently constant voice, they simply say, “Turn right on the next street,” and brings me around the block, or recalibrates and sends me the next best way.

They don’t look at my past driving history, nor are they interested in any character flaws I might have.  It doesn’t matter if I am young or old…smart or not so smart…tall or short…handsome or homely…wealthy or poor…black, white or yellow.  They simply have a job to do and do it with calm and deliberation.  They focus on the present, and move toward the future with none of the baggage we, as humans often carry into our decision-making processes.  While their circuit boards have no consciousness to care what I think…I admire them. 

A living counterpart…

That brings me to the cats and dogs.  I have had them both in my life.  While for the past few years it has been cats, the lessons are the same.  If you don’t beat them or deprive them of the things they need to survive, they are remarkably consistent in their behavior.  If they like you – frankly easier with dogs in my experience – there is little that causes them to change the way they feel.  They might be angry for a few minutes if scolded or punished, but none of that seems to matter as they climb back affectionately in your lap or lie by your side, because…well, because they live in the moment, looking to the future for a hug, a pat on the head, a stroke on their back, a gentle word – not the past.

They don’t care if you are young or old…smart or not so smart… tall or short…handsome or homely…wealthy or poor…black, white or yellow.  They don’t mind if you make a big mistake in your life.  Their circuit boards are filled with liquid chemistry that seem to be wired to be completely in the moment…then the next…and the next.

Wouldn’t it be great if we all operated like this?  You know, be in the ‘here and now.’ As you read these words, you are alive and only so in the moment your eyes scan the letters.  Previous sentences are in the past, the end of the blog in the future.  NOW is the only place we really live.

Wouldn’t it be great if we were able to take the present as a platform to create our future, or at the very least to be single minded in the present to focus our sight forward, without the recrimination, doubt and the guilt of the past.  Yesterday can’t be changed…but tomorrow? Tomorrow is activated by the decisions we make right now…each instant we have breath.

There is little doubt, our past experiences – those millions of ‘alive moments’ have built the present, making us who we are at any point in time.  They should NOT, however, keep us from moving forward in our lives.  They should NOT rob us of our future because they keep our eyes in the ‘rear view mirror’ of our journey.  This is not an easy task.

My friend Vert used to say grace, holding hands with family at the dinner table.  No matter the prayer, he ALWAYS ended by saying, “…and thank you for the future.”

Every morning, I take a few moments to remind myself it takes work to stay in the here and now.  I remind myself to be grateful that God has brought me to this moment.  I remind myself to keep my eyes forward take the day as it comes. I try to be a little more like that GPS or my cats...

As you read these words in your present, they will be in my past, but as I write them in my present and they come to a close, I am grateful for this moment and thankful for the future…

- ted