"Love the moment. Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore, each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments, and to live each is to succeed." —Corita Kent

I have long held the belief that every moment of life holds something in it worth loving if we look into it deeply enough.

Last night as I watched the evening news, I had a divine "ahha" insight. My awareness was that today's "now" moment is bringing an incredible amount of fear, pain and suffering to an inordinate number of human beings. How can they possibly love this moment?

I challenged myself to see if my belief still holds up.

I found myself tracing my progress back through the years, both good and bad. What I noticed is that in either case, these "now" moments all came and went.

The awareness I had was that years are nothing more than a collection of months, which are simply an accumulation of days, which are containers for hours, which are placeholders for minutes, which in true metaphysical form boil down to seconds.

There is no need to go into the quantum physics of nanoseconds (a nanosecond is one-billionth of a second) because I trust you get my point: Every past moment is connected to the current moment, which likewise is connected to the next moment. In short, life is a continuum of "now" moments.

Reviewing nearly 60 years of such moments in my life was a powerful experience. As I traced the journey that has brought me to the present, I reconnected with past moments that were agonizingly unpleasant and, fortunately, more than a few onceinalifetime stellar moments that were worth experiencing again.

However, it's the painful moments, days and years, I want to address here, not simply because they were painful but because they were purposefully powerful as well.

It's important to remember that one moment connects our lives to the next, and if we dial out on the painful moments or dark times we also miss a portion of the journey that leads us to wholeness. We can't go unconscious part of the time and expect to arrive at the end of our journey in one piece.

We need the collective whole of our experiences to obtain wholeness, which will allow us to achieve the peace that passes all understanding.

Wholeness becomes a reality when we can embrace all of who we are and what the moment brings and, perhaps more importantly, all of who we are not and what the moment doesn't bring.

Every day of our lives contains reminders of both. In either case, it's vital to remember, as the master teacher said, "This too shall pass."

This is why I treasure the quote by Corita Kent at the top of this article.

It's a reminder of how absolutely crucial it is to stay connected to the moment, irrespective of what it looks like and, yes, even in spite of how it may feel.

However, staying connected to the moment and liking what's contained within that moment may be two different things. We can and should love every moment because each one is another precious gift of life—but that doesn't mean we necessarily have to enjoy the experience the moment brings.

In other words, we don't always have to like what is in any given moment to love the moment. It's our acceptance of and loving what is that becomes the bridge that will help us cross into the next moment.

Remember, seeds do indeed need a bit of darkness from which to grow . . . and in the mix can be a great amount of manure. I know that in this sacred moment something profoundly meaningful is growing in the garden of your life.

Stay connected and you'll have an amazing life, one moment at a time. Love this moment—it's the only one you have.

Dennis Merritt Jones is a local spiritual mentor, keynote speaker and author of the book "The Art of Being: 101 Ways to Practice Purpose in Your Life." Contact him at www.DennisMerrittJones.com.