I'm fighting off a common bad thought: "I can't wait to get this over with." It comes easy during times like the week before my son's graduation party, before I do a wedding which I'm little experienced at doing, or before a big sporting event that has me, the coach, very nervous.

"Getting it over with" assumes something better is coming even if what is coming is quite often just a waiting period before the next big event. Then I plan and sweat and toil and worry my way back to the thought, "I can't wait to get this over with." Bad cycle. Wrong process.

I once heard Garrison Keillor say something like, "Life is what happens while we're planning what to do next." Wrapped up in that idea is a kernel of truth telling me to embrace the moment and believe in its immediate importance rather than looking ahead to a different moment of greater promise.

Jesus taught us to value the immediate. I see it most clearly during his last Passover and in the Garden of Gethsemane. When plans for a return to the Father were imminent, just days away, his focus was on his disciples and the last teachable moments for them. When praying alone, He begged for the cup of death to pass from Him. Was it anxiety over pain and struggle and separation? Yes, but not completely. Part of that request, I believe, was the desire to do more here on Earth, to stay a little while longer, to make the present last.