Present

As I take stock and look towards the future there is one thing I know with certainty.  Even as I strive to live in the present I often have little appreciation for what is actually going on.  I miss times of celebration, I ignore times of morning, and I wander through times of taking stock.  Even the big events are often treated as casual milestones in an otherwise busy day!  As I look back, I wonder why I didn’t take time to celebrate more.  What prevented me from living in the present of the now important moment?  If there was something even more important, why can’t I remember it?  If not, then why was I so caught up in the race?  Even more important that these musings, is the present any different from the past?
 
It is the latter question that haunts me most.  I find others face the same dilemma.  Even “the disciples didn't notice the fulfillment of many Scriptures at the time, but after Jesus was glorified, they remembered that what was written about him matched what was done to him.”  (John 12.16)  They missed the plot at the time and so have I.  The real question today is simple.  Does yesterday’s pattern dictate today’s? 
 
I hope not!  In taking note of the questions, decisions, and events at hand, I find there is much to celebrate.  I know questions abound but there will also be questions tomorrow.  If there is a choice of celebration then it rests in within a simple equation of hope and trust.  Do I have trust in the future?  Is the future filled with hope?
 
One could say we have little to no control over the future.  While I agree the future is complex I do not think anything is beyond our control.  The rationale is simple.  Life is what we see.  A child’s eyes can be full of hope even when everything says otherwise.  We can be children in life – seeing the best in people, reveling in the beauty and wonder of life, and facing the unknown with hope.