Thursday, February 24, 2011

Days

Annie Dillard writes with pathos and power. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is a highly descriptive work on nature and its surroundings in the Roanoke, Virginia area.


She traces the meaning of life throughout the pages of her writings and nudges the reader to examine their life and its unfolding story. My favorite quote from her writings simply says...


"How we spend our days, is of course,
how we spend our lives."

To many people live "practice lives." They are posturing and preening in preparation for the real life they want to live someday.  Everyday seems to be a "preparation" for the life they will one day live, but it seems like they never get around to living the life they want to live.

Dillard is so right, "how we spend our days, is of course, how we spend our lives."


Oscar Wilde penned similar thoughts...."one's real life is often the life that one does not lead."


There are times when it seems like people I meet are trying to get through today because, "tomorrow will be better." There is always a longing for a better day when today is adequate if only they could see it. 


It is easy to fall into the trap of trying to live past today in order to get to tomorrow. It's never to late to stop and be "fully present" in this day. It's never to early to resolve to "inhabit today."

Are you going to experience today or will you squander it because you are waiting for another day to pass? Why not try being a good steward of each moment? Why not treasure each segment of your day and resist the temptation to hurry the day along in an effort to get to a better day ahead? Who knows how many opportunities we have missed because we failed to live in the day that God has given us?


I wonder how many days living like this before it becomes our pattern of existence?  It also makes me wonder if this is the reason so many people are unhappy? 


I resolve to live out every moment today. I am not going to wish away any of them. I want to make each day count rather than counting my days. What's on your agenda today?

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