I’ll do it tomorrow.
One day, when I have more time, I’ll do it and do it properly.
Not just yet. It can wait.
An English Lesson
This morning I sat with a group of Chinese grandmothers who now live in Australia. They were learning the English names for days of the week, months of the year and the words ‘today’, ‘tomorrow’ and ‘yesterday’.
A dozen of us sat around two folding tables. All but two of us wore glasses, and one of those two was significantly hampered because she had forgotten to bring her spectacles. Brows were furrowed as they struggled with the non-logical pronunciation of ‘Wednesday’ (with its almost silent ‘d’) and differentiating between ‘Tuesday’ and ‘Thursday’.
We later moved on to an exercise in which one lady said, ‘Today is Wednesday’ (or any other day of the week), and the others would say, “Yesterday was Tuesday. Tomorrow will be Thursday.’
I did not confuse those dear ladies with the title of this blog post: ‘Yesterday’s tomorrow is today’. But it was a timely challenge for me, for I have been thinking about this concept all week.
However, I don’t really have time to write today. It can wait, I reasoned. I’ll do it when the creative juices are flowing.
And that, friends, is the reason I don’t blog anywhere near as often as I would like.
A Biblical Perspective on Time
In recent months, I have been struck by the Biblical perspective on ‘time’. God, of course, stands outside of time. He sees reality in context of the past, present and future … a concept that ties my time-bound-brain in knots. But for us, his image bearers, who pass our days within the bounds of time and space, the Biblical advice is to focus on ‘today’.
Yes, we are to remember the lessons of yesterday. In fact, key lessons from the past are brought into the present by practising certain rites or commemorating special days, including Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, baptisms, communion services and more. And of course it is wise to plan for tomorrow. But our focus is to be primarily on today.
Consider these verses:
Give us today our daily bread….
Matthew 6:11 NIV
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:34 NIV
But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today”….
Hebrews 3:13a NIV
Quit Procrastinating
The dishes can wait until tomorrow. I’ll just wash the coffee percolator and cup ready for the morning.
I don’t really feel like cutting the grass today. Perhaps I’ll be more motivated tomorrow.
I’m far from achieving my fitness goals for today, but I’ll do extra later in the week.
Do you ever find yourself thinking along these lines? Occasionally things cannot wait. A ‘real’ deadline (not just one I try to impose on myself) is exceptionally motivating.
Experts tell us that most chronic procrastinators are also perfectionists. Rather than do something imperfectly, we put it off. That rings true for me.
Nevertheless, a warning on this topic is given twice in the book of Proverbs:
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest – and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.
Proverbs 6:10-11 and Proverbs 24:33-34 NIV (the two passages are identical)
Mantra – a Tool for the Mind
Although the term ‘mantra’ is often associated with repeating religious words over and over, the word itself simply means ‘a tool for the mind’.
The word ‘mantra’ has Sanskrit origins, which is hardly surprising given that we usually this word in relation to Buddhist or Hindu utterances.
The first part of the word, ‘man’, comes from the word ‘manas,’ meaning ‘mind’. It is apparently related to the Latin ‘mens’, also meaning ‘mind’ and the origin of the word ‘mental’, as in ‘mental arithmetic’, ‘mental health’, ‘dementia’ etc.
The second part of the word, ‘tra’, means ‘tool’, and may be related to the Latin ‘trua’ meaning ‘a stirrer’, from which we get the English word ‘trowel’.
So a ‘mantra’ is a ‘tool for the mind’.
This is my ‘tool for the mind’ at the moment:
Today is yesterday’s tomorrow.
In other words, don’t put it off. Just do it. Whether ‘it’ is the laundry, a particularly task, decluttering, physical exercise or even brushing the cat. (Okay, the cat doesn’t usually allow me to miss her evening brush.)
And so….
I’d like to hold off sharing this blog post with you until I can do it perfectly. Another day, perhaps.
But no … today I will upload this imperfect blog post. And do a few other little jobs that could wait for another day but would be better done today too.
For today is yesterday’s tomorrow.
And so, in a paraphrase of Hebrews 3:13-14, as long as it is called ‘today’, may we encourage each other to live well for Jesus. May we keep doing that, day after day, until the very end, when we shall throw off the shackles of these limited lives.