When the Time is Right
April 4, 2024
When I was younger, I was often bored or impatient with things. I had things to do and places to go. I was not fond of things blocking my mobility or slowing me down. I was not particularly eager to waste time with things that didn’t pertain to my goals. The ego state is usually a driven state. It has many needs and desires, most of which are meant to build more “me” and more of our story. So, the ego doesn’t have time to waste.
In the 1970s, an extraordinary realization came to me on a campus bus at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. I rode the bus instead of walking that day because the snow was knee-deep and ice was all over the sidewalks. Yale has a large campus, and my courses were all over the place. But that day, I could not take my usual walk because of the weather. So, I was confined to wasting my time riding in a slow, cramped bus.
During that same period of my life, I was taking a meditation class. The professor divided us into small groups to meditate together. At first, I put little stock in meditation. It seemed like something for others, not me; transcendental meditation was too woo-woo for me.
Yet the more I experienced it, the more peaceful I was. My ego state was anything but quiet, so my soul craved the peace that meditation seemed to afford.
I recall the very moment of realization that I would never be bored again. I was on the campus bus, crammed up next to other students. I couldn’t read because there was no room to open a book. It was before iPhones, Walkman, or earbuds. So, what did I do? I meditated. Before I knew it, I was at my bus stop clear across campus and had experienced profound peace.
That realization at age twenty-two has served me all my life. I have never been bored since then because I have always had something amazing to do whenever I wish. That amazing thing taught me to slow down and savor each moment regardless of where I am.
Inquiry: Why might you be bored?
Dear God,
That time and place of that beautiful realization will be with me forever. I am so thankful.
Amen.
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