But there's also something magical and meaningful about presence. When we spend time with others, we help create magical and meaningful moments and memories.
There are two examples of presence that have stuck with me throughout my life. They aren't anything exciting to the outside world, but they are part of my story. And they have helped make my life full and complete. When I was a boy, we lived in a rural area, outside of a small town. On occasion, I remember taking "road trips" with my dad. I put road trips in quotations, because they are far from that. But as an 8 or 10 year old boy, a 15 mile ride in the car with my dad was pretty amazing. It was magical and meaningful. One of these road trips was to a farm that was only about 15 miles from our house. But in order to get there, we crossed over the county line and we even had to go over a "large" river on an old bridge. Brrrr...scary. But this also added to the magic and meaning. The other part of the trip that stuck with me was the farmer's 38 tractors! As a boy, I was enthralled by cars, trucks, tractors - pretty much anything with an engine and wheels. My dad knew this. So being able to see so many tractors in one place and sharing this moment with my dad was magical and meaningful.
Speaking of loving all things with engines and wheels, the other moment of presence that has stayed with me was the time I got to spend several hours with an aunt - driving her way-too-cool Mazda. It had a hand-crank sunroof and I think it had manual transmission. The details are getting a little fuzzy, but the moment has stuck with me for several reasons. First, she let me drive her way-too-cool Mazda. And "B," we got to talk for several hours as we scoped out the countryside of our rural area. We even ventured into the larger city near us - into some pretty swanky neighborhoods. It was a glorious afternoon. And if I remember correctly, I think my aunt got in trouble with her mother - for being gone so long and not letting her know where we were. This was in the pre-cell phone days.
These moments transformed me. They allowed me to drink in more of life and store away some memories that, to this day, still make me smile. They still touch my heart. The Alternate Routes have a song Nothing More. I think the chorus poignantly sums up the idea of presence:
We are Love
We are One
We are how we treat each other when the day is done
We are Peace
We are War
We are how we treat each other and Nothing More
So...when you spend time with someone doing something that seems boring, pointless, or insignificant, just remember, you might not ever know how magical and meaningful the presence will be to the person/people you're with!
