The spiritual life can only be lived in the present moment, in the now. All the great religious traditions insist upon this simple but difficult truth. When we go rushing ahead into the future or shrinking back into the past, we miss the hand of God, which can only touch us in the now.
I think the most essential thing in one's life is silence. What is silence? We think if we are quiet, we are silent. But we must come to silence without desire and wanting, otherwise we are not silent.