Predicting the Future
theophilus October 26th, 2007
We’re good at predicting things – knee hurts, it’s going to rain; wife stops talking, she’s growing steamed about something; Microsoft reports good earnings, the stock market is going to rise; sun comes up, the Reds are going to lose.
And there are other things we can predict but may not want to recognize about our future that are impacted by what we do today. We ignore our wife, she will grow distant. We ignore our children, they will make bad decisions. We cease to pray, we will grow spiritually cold. We lose touch with our conscience, we will make bad choices.
Today’s gospel (Luke 12: 54-59) discusses in part our habit of foreseeing the future without being able to see what is right in front of us.
“When you see a cloud rising in the west you say immediately that it is going to rain – and so it does; and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south you say that it is going to be hot – and so it is. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”
So, how do we interpret the present time?
For me, it’s trying to understand how our current actions will result in future consequences. We’ve heard it before – the seeds we sow today will produce crops tomorrow.
The seeds I’m most concerned about are our children. I know that what we teach them and do not teach them today will color their future choices and life. We have to lay the foundation today for them to build on when they are adults.
My wife and I are lucky – our parents laid a foundation that is bored into the earth and will never fail. Upon that foundation, my wife and I have built a structure that may waver, but should never falter.
So, are we passing on the same gift to our kids?
My little girl recently had a birthday. I realize she is moving her way through her dependent life with us all too rapidly. We know we have to be doing the right things with her – and doing them today and each and every day from here on out. She is a wonderful child and we are comforted that when we ask of her who she loves most – she answers “God” without skipping a beat.
My son is a couple years behind his sister. Yesterday, my wife asked of him who he loved best. His answer? – “God”!
Their answers tell me we have started well and are on God’s path for them. But I never stop praying to St. Joseph that he begs of God to make me the father I need to be for them and the husband I need to be for my blessed wife.
It seems like just yesterday when I became a father. I never knew it would be as awe-inspiring, fulfilling, gratifying, grace-giving, demanding, and loving as it has been for me.
And everyday since, I have awaken and asked of our Lord – what must I do today to get them where you want them to be? This question sums up my quest to live the vocation and be the man that God expects me to be.
What I do today will impact the quality of their service to God in the future.
And I can’t think of a better purpose from God and a better mission from Christ.
“2 Bees on a Creeping Thistle, Cirsium arvense”, Richard Bartz, August 23, 2007. License. Some Rights Reserved.
