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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.