Remembering the Past, Living in the Present

Rev. Jeffrey Symynkywicz, April 19, 2009

Life hurtles forward into the future,
while we remain stuck in the pain of the past,
often even denying that the pain is really there.

So, we cling to the shadow
of a past that never was,
rather than breathing in its
enlightening, healing, liberating spirit,
and then moving on to greet
the golden luster of another dawn.

To remember the past is not to cling to it,
if we comprehend that we are living
honestly in the present,
with all of its commitments,
and facing the future directly and bravely,
with all of its glorious possibility.

Then, we will find ourselves energized and empowered
by that from which we have drawn meaning and spirit,

to which we now bid farewell.

Of course, we cling to the present sometimes, too:
 its comfort and convenience; its unthreatening predictability;
then we doom ourselves to miss the chance
to birth the new worlds that lie within us,

as the future dawns;
and to live that awesome power
of the endless springtime resurrection.

jbs
5/22/99            4/7/02          4/19/09         

| Home | Sermons and Meditations | Archived Meditations |