“We know what we are, but know not what we may be.” ~ William Shakespeare
What was, was. What is, is. And what will be, will be. That is the attitude that some people take regarding their lives here on earth. They say that the past is gone and there is nothing that we can do about it. The present is something that is happening to us at this very minute and, therefore, we can do nothing about it. The future? Well, the future is unforeseeable.
But we know that there is more to life than that. We must look at our past, evaluate it critically, and learn from it. If we do not, we risk making the same mistakes over and over again. While we live in the present, we have the ability to change what is happening. We choose to become involved in life or choose to do all within our power to change its course. And the future?
While the future might be unforeseeable, we know that we must be prepared to embrace it. If we learn from our past and do everything in the present correctly, we will be in the proper frame of mind to step into the future.
Our spiritual lives are made up of past, present, and future. We build our spiritual lives upon the stepping stones that we laid down for ourselves. We learned our prayers and prayed them often. We engaged in the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. We broadened our minds with spiritual reading and faith sharing.
In our present, we continue to build upon the foundation laid in the past. We pray even more and ever more fervently. We engage in even more good works. We strive to learn more about ourselves and our relationship with our God so that we may deepen it day by day.
One day, we shall be called into an eternal future. We know not, as Shakespeare stated, what that future will be and what we may be. All we know is that it will be glorious because our future is not here on earth. Our future lies beyond this earth and is placed squarely in the Kingdom of Heaven.
If we have any hope of making it to that future, we have to live the present as fully as possible, giving ourselves to the Lord and asking Him to continue to shape us into His people. Learning from our past, seeking forgiveness for the times we strayed in our past, and preparing for the future, we will be ready to accept the invitation of God to live with Him for all eternity.
FAITH ACTION: Give yourself completely over to the Lord so that He can make of you want He wants you to become.