Today’s Priority List

The most impor­tant thing you do today may be some­thing you will not even notice that you did. The Divine mea­sure of things is gen­er­ally the reverse of what we think is sup­posed to hap­pen. The “to do” list on your desk or in your head will not have the nota­tion. Even if it did, it would be nowhere near the top. We have been on life’s stage so long that we have for­got­ten what (or bet­ter yet Who) is behind the cur­tain direct­ing life’s play.

When you wake up in the morn­ing, the auto­matic pri­or­ity cycle begins: What day is this? Oh yes, this is (what­ever day) and it is the day that I have to get this done and that accom­plished… God’s list for us reads a bit dif­fer­ent. It would read: The most impor­tant thing to do today is to make eye con­tact with a small child that is feel­ing bad about her­self. This is also the day to breathe deeper, walk slower, laugh more, look up at the sky, smell the flow­ers, stop worrying, listen to the birds, quit over-thinking, watch the sun­set, behold some stars, and then fall gen­tly to sleep at day’s end.

Deity also works won­der­fully by dis­trac­tion. Your list is going to be inter­rupted by peo­ple and sit­u­a­tions that you can­not imag­ine. Those annoy­ances are prob­a­bly on God’s list too. They are sent to shake your ego around a bit and help you get over the idea that you are in control.

At the end of this life, you and God will com­pare lists. You will have some of the same entries — but only by prov­i­dence. “It is not within man to direct his steps…” In the mean time, enjoy the process. Be open to what­ever is about to hap­pen. Pay atten­tion. You are allowed to start the list over.