Living in the here and now
In the midst of the storm ... today's seas allow
Staring astern ... at my ship's past plough
Or into tomorrow ... way out past times bow
Is foolish to my steps on the deck here and now
Rayburn Blair
File away your past, put your dreams in a frame,
Ask God for grace, and live your life for a change.
RB
"Now" by Robert Browning
All of your life that has gone on before,
All to come after it, you simply ignore
Ah, Sweet –
The moment eternal – just that and no more
When ecstasy is utmost .... we clutch at its core
The Illusion Of Time By Alan Watts
“We are living in a culture entirely hypnotized by the illusion
of time, in which the so-called present moment is felt as
nothing but an infinitesimal hairline between an all
powerfully causative past and an absorbingly important
future. We have no present. Our consciousness is almost
completely preoccupied with memory and expectation. We do
not realize that there never was, is, nor will be any other
experience than present experience. We are therefore out of
touch with reality. We confuse the world as talked about,
described, and measured with the world which actually is. We
are sick with a fascination for the useful tools of names and
numbers, of symbols, signs, conceptions and ideas.”
of time, in which the so-called present moment is felt as
nothing but an infinitesimal hairline between an all
powerfully causative past and an absorbingly important
future. We have no present. Our consciousness is almost
completely preoccupied with memory and expectation. We do
not realize that there never was, is, nor will be any other
experience than present experience. We are therefore out of
touch with reality. We confuse the world as talked about,
described, and measured with the world which actually is. We
are sick with a fascination for the useful tools of names and
numbers, of symbols, signs, conceptions and ideas.”
If Not Now.... When
If you have kind words to say,
Say them now. Tomorrow may
not come your way,
Do a kindness while you may,
Loved ones will not always stay;
Say them now. If you have smile to show,
Show it now. Make hearts happy, roses grow,
Let the friends around you know
The love you have before they go;
Show it now. - Anon.
"Be wise now...." Psm.2:10.
"Now shall mine head be lifted up ...." Psm.27:6.
"Now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in thee." Psm.39:7.
"I will pay my vows unto the Lord now ...." Psm.116:14.
"Remember now thy Creator ...." Ecc.12:1.
"Behold, now is the accepted time." 2 Cor.6:2.
"And Jesus answering said ... Suffer it to be so now:
for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness ...."
Matt.3:15.
Grown-up, Adults, who are still children, just haven't grown
out of their juvenile "ME" pity pits either. Since self centeredness can't make them happy, and several mates
didn't satisfy, and precious children didn't either, the last
possibility, which is the only one, is seeking our Creator. He had a plan and purpose for letting you be the only one, of 100 million spermatozoa, clustered around you, to be conceived, and then survive to be born. Of one in a 100 million, He chose only you to have a place in this world. You were that special to God. Now, you had better make the most of yourself and show Him you were worth the opportunity. Otherwise, He can certainly put an end to a miserable life, wasted and blinded to its value. But, what then? So stay tuned in to your Creator. He is there to help you. RB
________________
The NOW Generation - What Is Wrong?
By Roderick Meredith
Why do the "good times" sought by young people often turn sour?
I JUST want to have fun like all the other kids. I want to be free. I want to experience life and not have to be tied down by a dull job and a dull marriage." Sound familiar?
It ought to. For a whole generation millions of teenagers and young 20s have wanted fun and fulfillment. And they want it NOW and they each want it for ME.
A genuine cultural revolution has been in the making. In the last 20 years a literal flood of books has appeared on understanding and improving the self We have been abruptly exposed to greater acceptance of sexuality both in and out of marriage, a new preoccupation with the body and physical fitness and, above all; to a frantic search for the "good life," ripe with leisure, new experiences, fun and games.
Where has it all been leading?
The Results
The "now generation" has fallen far short of achieving genuine happiness and self-fulfillment. Life-experiments have not been self-fulfilling. Many are shocked to find themselves with a broken marriage, a ruined career or simply a depressed state of mind.
For teenagers, the "now generation" philosophy has produced booming rates of suicide, new venereal diseases, raging alcohol and drug abuse. Millions of unmarried teenage girls become pregnant. Instead of rearing children they conceive, hundreds of thousands of these "me generation" girls allow life to be snuffed out by abortion!
With unremitting emphasis on fun and on self-fulfillment, the "now" or "me generation" philosophically presupposes that economic well-being is virtually a — right, to be guaranteed by the government. This assumption has run into trouble — even in societies of relative abundance.
According to the 1980 U.S. census, there are 1.8 million children in America alone who have no adult at home after school. And there are millions of "latchkey" children worldwide.
Why?
Well, the story goes, the mothers need to work.
Or the family "needs" to have a bigger income so they can have the "good life."
Maybe the woman has to work because she is divorced. Or, perhaps, her husband deserted her.
Again, WHY?
Because in the vast majority of divorce cases one or both parties to the marriage are trying to "get" all they can, and "give" as little as possible. That certainly has been my experience as one involved in hundreds of marriage counselings over the past 30 years!
And desertion by the husband and father is an even more obvious example of total selfishness and thoughtlessness. A U.S. congressional report showed that 79 percent of divorced fathers nationwide do NOT support their own children. Pure selfishness in most cases.
In another area where children are seriously affected, a shocking article from the April 1983 Ladies Home journal reports the horrifying facts regarding child pornography. The article quotes Bruce Ritter, founder of New York City's Covenant House, a nonprofit youth shelter: "This sickness exists," he states, "because a small segment of society wants it, another segment profits by it, and the rest aren't doing anything about it."
It's hard to believe that that kind of mind exists! But it does.
And, please, let's not ASSUME that all of the rapists, robbers, drug addicts, drug dealers, pornographers, child pornographers, adulterers, wife beaters, child abusers and homosexuals are out on some ill-defined fringe of society!
The "me generation" concentrates so sharply on personal desires that instead of achieving the intimate relationships they yearn for, they grow further apart from others. In focusing on their own needs, they discover that their inner journey brings loneliness and depression. They want to expand their lives, but the strategy they use constricts them — drawing them inward toward the ever — narrowing, closed off "ME."
__________________
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