Living In The Present by Eyitemi Egwuenu
“Now, is the accepted time” the lawyer from Tarsus boldly proclaimed about 2000 years ago. You will find many layers of meaning compressed in that singular statement, which for the brevity of this discourse I will not go into. For many people the past and the future are always a constant companion and not very pleasant ones at that; they are either relieving, over and over again, the mistakes of the past or fretting constantly about what the future might bring (or might not bring). For such people, the present never really exists, – they are caught perpetually in a time loop, – swinging on that obsessive pendulum between the tears of yesterday and the fears of tomorrow; in the course of living, they faint; in the quest to live, they die.
But, . . . “Now, is the accepted time”
There is nothing wrong with thinking about the past. In fact, you should give the past a considerable amount of thought. The past holds your memories, your joys, your friendships, and your successes, but it also holds your mistakes, your regrets and your failures. There is nothing wrong with thinking about the past, to draw courage and belief from your successes and to learn valuable lessons from your setbacks. It only becomes a problem when you focus on your mistakes and regrets so much that it numbs you from daring to go forward.
The same is true about the future, – as the slow strokes of time sweep forward, your heart hangs on the unknown horizon in front of you; your dreams are yet unborn, you do not know for certain what form the offsprings would take. However, remember that reality is the offspring of dreams, and it is within your power, and within the latitude of your ability to dream dreams that would shape that future reality. Haunted by the past and wary about the future, it may take time to gather your wandering thoughts, to rally them into one fiery focus, and then to turn that blaze into action; it may take time, but it will happen if you keep at it. The slow approach of a Tiger is not an indication of weakness but an intoxication of strength.
Apart from his numerous wives and concubines, of course, two things come to mind when people hear the name “King Solomon”. The first: the fact that he was an extremely wise man, and secondly, The Temple that was built during his reign, called, Solomon’s Temple, was perhaps one of the most magnificent structures ever constructed by man. But, how many people realize that both King Solomon and The Temple are in a sense the consequences of two mistakes in the past of King David.
Solomon was David’s son by his wife Bathsheba whom he took through dubious means from Uriah the Hittite (Let’s call this David’s first mistake). The site on which The Temple was built was the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, the same location where an Angel was restrained from carrying out destruction when David erroneously numbered the Israelites (Let’s call this David’s second mistake).
Only God can take a man’s two greatest mistakes and build a magnificent Temple out of it.
As obvious as it may seem, people should always remember to live in the present while garnering wisdom from the past and dreaming about the future. Let go of the nightmares of the past and dream great dreams about the future; see clearly in your heart and in your mind what your goals are, because knowing what you want and defining it clearly, has a way of rallying Providence in your favour.
Always remember the words of the lawyer from Tarsus: “Now is the accepted time”
Moreover, if we are to consider the issue just a little further, there is no such thing as yesterday, today, and tomorrow anyway. What we call the past, the present and the future is actually just one, vast, and eternal Now!
Written by Eyitemi Egwuenu: Twitter – @eyitemiegwuenu
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