Learn from the past
Live in the present
Prepare for the future
I came across these phrases recently, and I thought how true.
I’m sure they are not original, but in that form even Google did not come up with an answer!
Learn from the past. That’s what a child unconsciously does as she is learning to move, talk, copy others’ actions. As we get older, we not only learn from others, but from the mistakes we make, the happy times we enjoy and the experiences we make or which come our way. Disappointments – how did that come about, can I do it differently next time?
But we have to carry all that, consciously or unconsciously, as we live in the present and we only have one day at a time – it’s the same for all. Jesus said the “rain falls on the just and the unjust alike”.
And each of us, every day, has to work out how we make the most of each day God has given us. Not necessarily in work, action, whatever that may be, but in what they call a work life balance, with time given to reflection and relationships – and God of course.
Preparing for the future may take many forms. It might be in savings, it might be in planning for the future – a walk-in shower or an automatic car!
We will slow up, we have to come to terms with the things we will never do or see – and that can be ignored, or realistically faced. This will include our death – however near or far, without being morbid. The manner of our demise can be scary, but, if we have faith that God knows us and God loves us, and will be there when we die and through into eternity, perhaps we can see it as “an awfully big adventure”. J M Barrie
[Janet Lawrence]