Last week we saw that the Christian life is lived in the present moment—one duty at a time. Not yesterday.Not tomorrow.But now. Yet as soon as we begin to live this way, we run into something deeper—and harder. What about the things we did not choose? The interruptions.The disappointments.The burdens we would gladly remove if we could. Jean-Pierre de Caussade now takes us one step further: Not only must we do the duty of the present moment—we must also receive it.

Last week, we began looking at the remarkable little spiritual classic often called The Sacrament of the Present Moment — the work traditionally attributed to the Jesuit priest Jean-Pierre de Caussade. The central idea is simple, but very powerful. God meets us in the present moment. Not tomorrow. Not yesterday. Right now. The past is gone. The future is not yet ours. But this moment — the one we are living — is the place where God’s will meets our obedience.