I Just Showed Up for My Own Life...

St. Irenaeus, a bishop who a saint who lived in the 2nd century said, "The glory of God is a man fully alive." Often our senses are dulled to the present because of our attachments to the past or our infatuations with the future. These attachments, infatuations and mere busyness cause us to live (at least in our hearts and minds) some place other than the here and now. In essence we are absent from our own existence. Yet, life can only be lived in the present.

The French Jesuit priest Jean-Pierre De Caussade used the phrase, even wrote a piece called The Sacrament of the Present Moment.

“The present moment,” he writes, “holds infinite riches beyond your wildest dreams but you will only enjoy them to the extent of your faith and love. The more a soul loves, the more it longs, the more it hopes, the more it finds. The will of God is manifest in each moment, an immense ocean which only the heart fathoms insofar as it overflows with faith, trust and love.

Poet and Song-writer Sara Groves amazing and insightful. One of my favorite songs that I’ve been listening to over and over lately is “Just Showed Up For My Own Life.” I absolutely love this song. Though the style of the song isn’t my favorite, the lyrics are simply brilliant. They have become my prayer during this season of my life.

Lyrics to Just Showed Up For My Own Life

Spending my time sleep walking
Moving my mouth but not saying a thing
Hoping the changes would take by working their way from the outside in
I was in love with an idea
Preoccupied with how a life should appear
Spending my time at the surface repairing the holes in the shiny veneer

There are so many ways to hide
There are so many ways not to feel
There are so many ways to deny what is real

And I just showed up for my own life
And I'm standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright

I'm going to live my life inspired
Look for the holy in the common place
Open the windows and feel all that's honest and real until I'm truly amazed
I'm going to feel all my emotions
I'm going to look you in the eyes
I'm going to listen and hear until it's finally clear and it changes our lives

There are so many ways to hide
There are so many ways not to feel
There are so many ways to deny what is real

And I just showed up for my own life
And I'm standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright

Oh the glory of God is man fully alive
Oh the glory of God is man fully alive

There are so many ways to hide
There are so many ways not to feel
There are so many ways to deny what is real

And I just showed up for my own life
And I'm standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright

You can listen to the song here.