Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
Shakespear may have been excessively dour but he put his finger on how some of us feel some of the time. The melancholy Dane may have been depressed but he had reason to be.
I’ve often thought how we spend most of our time waiting. When I was a child everything was wait. We waited for our birthdays, we waited for Christmas,we waited for the summer, we waited for the first snowfall and everything was always delay until that vague point in the future that we were never quite sure would come. My parents had a saying that before things could happen tomorrow or whenever, that we had to get organized. I never understood, nor was it ever explained to me, what the organizing was all about.
Someone pointed out that rather than a vague salvation somewhere off in the future, I’m going to go to the clouds in heaven for instance, or by and by when we die, one of the favorite words in one of the Gospels is “today”, or or “this day”. The angels say today, “this day is born for you in the city of David a Savior”. The story of Zaccheaus is a marvelous picture of God’s redeeming mercy today. Jesus says it is a divine imperative thank I stay at your house today. And of course the words to the thief on the cross – today you will be with me in paradise.
All of the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ and it is a divine necessity that he come to us today and every day with his redeeming mercy and grace and once again tell us “today pick up your cross and follow me”. Today remember how much my mercy has meant in your life, and today remember the sacrifice I made. It is a divine necessity Jesus says that He be with you today.
