Living by the Moment

The morrow, when it comes, shall know
Its daily task, its daily care;
But not till then it deigns to show
Its needed act, its needed prayer.

Then to the PRESENT be thou true;
To that let thought and act be given;
And thou shalt find a vigor new,
To take the next great step to heaven.

Each moment's task and duty done,
As ceaseless each to each succeeds;
Tis thus goes down life's setting sun,
Serene and bright with worthy deeds.

'Tis thus, that heavenly bands shall greet
Thine entrance to the realms of bliss;
Thy trials past, thy work complete,
And crown'd with endless happiness.

— Christ in the Soul (1872) LXVIII.

Freedom from Self-Reflective Acts

It is a further characteristic of the mental state, [often called interior annihilation], that a person in this state of mind has no disposition to exercise self-reflecting acts, originating either in undue self-love or in a want of faith. 

What I mean to say is, that, when he has done his duty, he no longer turns back upon himself and asks, as the half-way Christian often does, What does the world think of me? Divested of all selfish purposes and aims, and having no will of his own, he acts deliberately and supremely for God; and therefore he feels that whatever is done, so far as motives and intentions are concerned, is well done. In that respect no trouble enters his mind. There is no need of retrospection; no need of apologies to cavillers. Indeed, he can scarcely be said to exercise retrospective acts and rejections upon himself in any sense whatever. Such acts seem to be, to some extent, inconsistent with the fact, that his heart is fixed exclusively upon an object out of himself.  What is done stands written in the record of his Divine Master; and there he leaves it. His whole soul is given to the present moment. The present moment is given to God.

— edited from The Interior or Hidden Life (2nd edition, 1844) Part 3, Chapter 12.