The word prompt for this week was “meditate.”
I think it’s good to look back and count our blessings. I think it’s good to look back on occasion, even at the things and relationships that didn’t work out the way we’d hoped. I have good stuff in my past. Bad stuff too. Who doesn’t?
Whatever emotion looking back brings, it’s temporary. Looking back may cause me to grieve, but it’s typically not long before I see that what didn’t work out made room for something new … something good … that looks as though it will work out. We may celebrate an event, look at photos and be grateful for a gift, a good deed or a loving relationship, but it’s only a photo or a memory—a rush of pleasantness that can be gone in a moment.
They call it “water under the bridge,” I suppose because the most any of us usually do is to take a short walk to the other side of the bridge, and say goodbye again. Or if it was a good or a great thing, offer thanks. Now, it doesn’t matter if my meditations takes me to a place of sorrow or rejoicing, it’s a waste of time unless I get off the bridge and head on down the road. I see people living on the bridge, too anxious or afraid to get off the bridge. Stuck on the bridge so long that weeds have grown over and covered the road God had clearly provided.
I think it’s better to look forward and plan … prepare for the trouble I know is ahead, for trouble that is common, and even for those random and rare events that seem to only happen to others. I think it’s good to look ahead and imagine what might be, to make goals, set boundaries and determine what is worth my effort.
Precious few of my worries or plans come to fruition. They’ll call you either a doomsdayer or a dreamer if you spend too much time thinking about tomorrow, so I do that in secret. The hours add up. I probably worry or dream more than others. My first grade teacher called me a “daydreamer,” so it must be true. I’m a mutt in that regard, a mixed breed. I tend to either get lost in today and forget to imagine or meditate about my tomorrows (when I worked as a nurse). I can also dream away complete days and forget about the business on today’s calendar (now that I’m a writer.)
They say that we “can’t be sure that tomorrow will come.” I’d ask “them” to rethink that. Meditate. I think it’s not about whether tomorrow will come or not. It’s about where we will be when tomorrow comes, and what will matter when we get there.
So what of looking back and counting our blessings or grieving what didn’t work out? What about looking ahead and planning, preparing, determining and imagining? Should we schedule time today for looking back and looking forward, or checking that we’re on track in the here and the now?
Yes, about looking back. Yes, about looking forward. And absolutely yes where it comes to managing our todays. God created a tool for doing all three. In it, there is wisdom and meditations and practical guidance that has never failed me. These precious verses are an excellent place to start:
Looking back:
“On that day explain to your son, ‘This is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ Let it serve as a sign for you on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead, so that the Lord’s instruction may be in your mouth; for the Lord brought you out of Egypt with a strong hand.” (Exodus 13:8-9, CSB).
“Do not remember the past events; pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:18-19, CSB).
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17, CSB).
Looking forward:
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 16:33-34, CSB).
“Lord, make me aware of my end and the number of my days so that I will know how short-lived I am.” (Psalm 39:4, CSB).
For today:
“This is the day the Lord has made; let’s rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24, CSB).
“Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise—making the most of the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15-16, CSB).
“Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.” (Psalm 90:12, CSB).
“We must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work.” (John 9:4, CSB).
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