Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Thursday January 3, 2008

Today is the first Thursday of 2008 and I must stay in the bounds of the Order of The Quill and continue my feeble remarks to just how to make 2008 great. You know the rhyme "Lose weight in 08 to make life great." Dave Caswell should love my poetic turn.

An internet friend, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo, sent the following to his list and this 83 year young former college professor put it this way:

"Today is the first day of the rest of your life. But so was yesterday and look how you messed that up!"

One of the blessings of age is you can tell it like it is, wear purple and even spit on the sidewalk if your couth is wanting. I skip the purple as I cannot imagine John Wayne in purple chaps riding a lavender horse. But I do enjoy being free from the tyranny of petty people who are self made and who refuse to come to grips with the obvious truth that they quit to soon!! Even God works on us throughout our earthly jaunt.

And in honesty the good professor hit my nail on the head, yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life and I sure messed it up. Should I give up? Should I refuse to acknowledge today as the first day of the rest of my life just because I made a mess of yesterday. Just because Robert Louis Stevenson was on target when he wrote, "Sooner or later we all must sit down to a plate of consequences." should not mean that I cannot by the grace of God seize today for His glory and my betterment and live today as the first day of the rest of my life and thus make it count for the good and noble things of the Lord and the advancement of the race.

At the height of Rome's grip on the civilized world the New Year was celebrated and homage was paid to the god, Janus. Janus was a two faced god with one face looking forward and the other looking backward. I am told the purpose for this arrangement was for civilized people to be looking forward most of the time for that is the preferred direction in which to move, and occasionally the rearward face was to be used to look back at the mistakes of yesterday past and learn from them. The truth be told all we can do about yesterday is to learn from it, for even the most powerful among us cannot recall yesterday and redo the events, even the good ones. Today, in a true sense stands alone and it is the only day in which we can do better than yesterday, the only day in which we express love to those whom we love. Today is the only day in which we can do anything, for yesterday is forever gone and tomorrow; well we all know tomorrow may not come for us, only for those who are left to live in this world of wonder.

Walter Malone wrote:

"Turn from the blotted archives of the past and find the future's pages white as snow."

Larry Lilly Copyright � 2008 Use with credit.

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