This is My Now!

On the way to the office this morning I recalled a song from last year's American Idol show.  It was entitled, "This is My Now."  It is a great song and incidentally, was introduced through the songwriting competition.  Within the song is a powerful message for all to consider again and again.

Always in the distance is this mythical mirage of completion, of happiness and success that seems to ever be just beyond our reach.  We lie to ourselves believing that with a little more effort the next event will be better, the next sale will be bigger and the next experience more exhilarating.  Happiness is on the horizon of the next paycheck, marriage, vacation, or lucky break.  Look at the numbers of people who flock to the casinos allowing their hopes to become the bait which robs them of their wealth and dreams.  In my opinion, there is a large probability that our own aspirations of future bliss may be stealing these fleeting, most amazing moments which are passing right under our noses.  Somehow we must stop living in the future and discover 'now'.

Ecclesiastes 12:1 begins with an admonition to young men and women.  "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them."  

I had occasion to be in a nursing home yesterday.  While there I could see into the rooms as I traversed the hallway.  Inside the various cubicles, I could see the stooped figures of men and women whose best days, in this life, were behind them.  Some stared blankly at blaring televisions while others slept the day away.  Others remained at the lunch table, crumbs clinging to their clothing, long after most people had retired to their rooms.  Although their belly may have been full, everything else about them had an appearance of emptiness.  

Seeing these elders made me wonder what they used to be like fifty years ago.  Were they hurrying from one place to the next?  Did they over-schedule themselves?  Did they over-stretch themselves financially, emotionally?  Did they realize the joy of being at home with their families?  If they could do it again...what would they do differently?  What would they say to you and me concerning the way we should live our lives?

Friend, this is my now!  This is your now!  We are the immediate players on the stage of time allowed by God, ordained by destiny, and preserved by the blood of American patriots who have preceded us.  The best is not coming...it is here!  Oh I know you are taxed in every way.  I realize you may be disappointed at where your career choice has led or didn't lead.  Sometimes you may think you married Mr. Wrong instead of Mr. Right.  But this is not a practice round.  This is reality and we must take the wet clay of this moment and work with it to form our future.  To fail to do such is to literally throw away our future.  What we do with now determines the reality of all our tomorrows.  

Yesterday I was honored to be involved with the assistance of two families, with two separate deaths.  One was the unexpected death of a 49 year old male.  The other, the passing of an elderly female.  Both helped to remind me of life's brevity.  Thing is, none of us know how much sand is left in our 'hour glass' of life.  All we know is the sands of time are inexorably running out!  Whether at 49 or 89 we must live everyday like it is our last.

If you can't remember all of Ecclesiastes 12:1, then simply capture the first two words.  "Remember, now!"  If nobody is listening why don't you say these words out loud - "This is my now!"  Say it until you really hear it...until you can believe it...can capture today...can say "I am sorry I was wrong"...can forgive...can say "I love you"...can enjoy your children/grandchildren's smile...can thank God for the rain as well as the sunshine...can feel fulfilled in a simple walk in the woods...can stop to smell the flowers...can take a kid fishing...can write a letter to a friend...can invite a senior citizen to lunch...can go to work whistling...can live in the moment called now.

Make it count.

Pastor Tim