JUNE 25
The future is not yet ours; perhaps it never will be. If it
comes, it may come wholly different from what we have
foreseen. Let us shut our eyes, then, to that which God hides
from us, and keeps in reserve in the treasures of His deep
counsels. Let us worship without seeing; let us be silent; let
us abide in peace.
—FRANCOIS DE SALIGNAC DE
LA MOTHE FÉNELONHow much time we spend anguishing over a future without
the one we love—anticipating all the times we would have
expected that person to be present with us, sharing our life.
Yet the future is unknown to us. We ourselves may not
be present at these events we look toward anticipating grief.
Why spend the energy of our lives on an unknowable future
when the present world lies all around us, moment by mo-
ment, day by day? There is grief enough here. But we do
not need to compound that grief by projecting ourselves
into a time beyond our knowledge or control.
I feel a wonderful freedom when I stop imagining my future sad-
ness and live only in the present.