Time certainly does fly past us with immeasurable speed. What once seemed like the distant future is now here and will soon fade into the past. What now exists as our present setting will one day be but a memory.
Often, we carry yesterday's mistakes into today through the form of guilt and shame, while we worry and fret about what might happen tomorrow. At other times, our minds wander back to the "good ole days," remembering the greener grass and simpler life of times long gone, all the while delaying positive life changing decisions and the embrace of virtue until tomorrow.
The past and the future are abstract concepts created to describe the passing of time. Yet that which is concrete and tangible can be found only in the continual present. The past is gone, the future is allusive, while the present remains perpetually with us. Our English language remains weak in capturing this reality. In Greek, however, we find verb forms that speak to this never-ending present tense. The pages of the New Testament are saturated with verbs that encourage us to remain continually in Jesus (John 15:5), to grow unceasingly in grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18), to love perpetually (1 John 4), to live continually in a state of not speaking evil against others (James 4:11), just to name a few.
In other words, our love for God, compassion for others, and kind deeds are not to be merely relegated to occasional events and moments in time; rather, we are called to live in a perpetual state of being where every present moment is an expression of love and grace, and every minute of every day to be enjoyed in the unceasing presence of the Divine.
In his Confessions, St. Augustine wrote, "How long shall I go on saying, 'Tomorrow, tomorrow'? Why not now?"
