Is There Any Now, Now?
by Anne Marie Mongoven, OP
Sr. Anne Marie Mongoven
Some of us think today is for tomorrow. Yesterday is no more. There is no now. All that is, is not yet here. In fact, tomorrow is months and years from now. All that is, is to come.
“Let us not bother about today,” we say. There are problems just over the horizon, and we must think about future problems now. There will always be another day in which to think about today. We can think about today tomorrow.
If there is no today, there is no time to grow, no time to play, to wonder, or to rest and reflect. Without today, there is no time for friendship, and there is no time for loving and being loved. Tomorrow we will love. Tomorrow we will worship. Tomorrow we will contemplate. Later we will study.
Tomorrow we will feel the grass, smell the new bread, taste the wine whose time has come. Tomorrow we will say, “Thank you,” and, “God bless you.” Today we are just too busy getting ready for tomorrow.
Living in the now includes time for “thick” talk or conversations about nothing in particular and everything in general. Without today means no acceptance of dependency, or recognition of kindness, or ability to see the needs of others. Without a now, life is all about a tomorrow built on air.
Different questions arise when we live in the present. If we live in the now, we ask ourselves questions like, “What is life all about?” or, “Why are we here?” or something as specific as, “What can we do today, now, to make life more livable for others and even for ourselves?” The tomorrow on which we focus like a laser beam is seldom about the real tomorrow because the real tomorrow is dependent on today.
Living in the future is a great temptation. We live for Community Days. We live out of the Chapter of 2006 and forward to the Chapter of 2011. We don’t have time for reflection on today. It is possible to be so focused on tomorrow that we can spend days, weeks, months, and even years not really living in the today. When the future is our focus, we do not see today’s faces, concerns, achievements, or even today’s celebrations.
I think that as a Congregation we seem to be living for tomorrow. We have real needs today, but we are so busy responding to tomorrow’s needs that today’s concerns could be missed. I will not name those needs or concerns as I see them because naming them might indicate that only a few of us are not paying attention to today. We are all responsible for our living in the today.
Living in the future leads us to focus intensely on questions like, “What will we do when everyone is retired and we have no compensation? What will happen when our median age is 85? Who will lead us five, 10, or 20 years from now? What will we do with our buildings? Our land? Our cemetery? Our chapel?” It would be foolish not to ever think about those things and plan for the future, but we cannot let the future hold our present hostage.
The Gospel tells us, Do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink” or “What will we wear?” . . . Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
Impractical, isn’t it?