I hit the brakes.  No, I wasn’t in the car.  I was walking past my study window.  Framed in the dozen panes was a brilliant crimson maple with sun streaming through its leaves like stained glass.  I stopped before the beauty, drank it in with greedy eyes, took a deep breath and became fully present to life.

Christians call it prayer.  Buddhists call it mindfulness.  Recovering alcoholics call it the eleventh step.  By whatever name or manifestation, there is indeed something divine, something holy about stopping to breathe, to become present, to be fully human in this particular moment and in this specific space.

Call it hitting the brakes.  The average Northborough resident lives at break-neck speed.  Really and truly, you have too much to do; I understand.  But trust me when I suggest that your life will be more colorful, more peaceful, more enjoyable if you find a way to hit those spiritual brakes at least once a day.

So, stop, look and listen.  Be still.  Take a deep breath.  Ah… now you are truly alive.

                  --Rev. Cynthia A. Maybeck, Pastor, Trinity Church, Northborough, MA