While traveling, I was contemplating a beautiful sunset and decided to take pictures to capture that beautiful moment. I took one picture after another one, trying to take in the beauty of that changing moment. It was impossible to determine which of those moments was the best of all and if the photographs had captured all that beauty in full.
While reflecting, I came to realize that I was so busy in the journey of taking the perfect picture, that I forgot to live in the moment – that perfect gift of beauty.
With the advances that cell phones offer us today, we have, at any time, cameras that give us the chance to seize an event in a photograph, able to share it immediately. This is the way that advances in technology work.
Mary, according to the gospels, kept all these memories in her heart.
It is important to save good memories in photographs, computer folders, or on cell phones. Yes, but those moments bring in a special meaning if they have been imprinted first in our hearts.
We often forget to enjoy or live special moments due to our eagerness to capture them in photos and/or share them on social media.
When Jesus healed or performed a miracle, he would order us: don’t tell anyone what has happened or what you have seen. This order by Jesus is very interesting; we can ask ourselves, why did he order that? Well, I think that he wanted to allow that event -- that special situation -- to first find and put down roots in the heart before sharing it, so that this sharing takes place not by euphoria, but by conviction.
Living in the moment is not enough. Rather, when this experience finds space in the heart, it becomes a treasure that transforms and pushes us to share what has been treasured, appreciated and loved.
The same thing can happen in our lives with each of the moments that we live. With each of the events that the Lord gives us: first we have to live it, then appreciate and treasure it, and then we can share it.
The irresistible desire to share, to take a picture of everything, or to take a selfie, doesn’t allow us to be immersed in the moment or to enrich our hearts.
I don’t talk badly about technology, but we must know how to find a balance that allows us to live fully in the present. Also, we must learn to take a photo that, in the future, will be a memory of what was treasured in the heart and will be shared with the story that that memory entails.
Let us follow Mary’s example, so that our hearts are not reduced to just basic and cold files. Instead, they become recipients of immense treasures of experiences rich in life, gratitude and love. Once they become matured and rooted in our hearts; we can then go and share these wonders that the Lord has wrought in us.