You would have us dance and sing in celebration of the present moment, but we can't see your smile or hear your song.

But how will we find you if we don't look where you are?

We search the past -- through its dusty libraries, its darkened ruins, its bloodsoaked battlefields, but you are not there. We find only idols -- and people bowing down to them. Of you there is but a whisper -- "Why do you seek the living among the dead?"

We search the future, straining our eyes to find you. But we see nothing -- only our own mirages and maybes reflected back on fearful, hopeful faces. And we hear a whisper -- "Do not be anxious about tomorrow; tomorrow will look after itself."

You are now -- in us, with us: the present is your dwelling place.

Call us out from bondage, touch us with eternity; free us from the drag of the past, the pull of the future. May we know you, love you, serve you -- not yesterday, not tomorrow -- but now, in this timeless moment. Amen.