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November 20th

BEHOLD, NOW AS EVER

“If you’ve seen the present, you’ve seen all things, from time

immemorial into all of eternity. For everything that happens is

related and the same.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 6.37

he events that will transpire today are the same as the things that have
always occurred. People living and dying, animals living and dying,
clouds rolling in and rolling out, air sucked in and sucked out, as it has for
aeons. This moment right now, to paraphrase Emerson, is a quotation of the
moments that have come before and will come ever after.
This idea is expressed nowhere more beautifully than in the Christianity
hymn Gloria Patri. “As it was in the beginning, and now, and always, and
to the ages of ages.” This thought is not supposed to be depressing or
uplifting. It’s just a fact. However, it can have a calming, centering effect.
No need to get excited, no need to wait on pins and needles. If you haven’t
seen this before, someone else has. That can be a relief.