In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus tells the story of a rich farmer who has an abundant harvest. The farmer rejoices, builds barns to store his harvest, and then plans to retire into debauchery for the rest of his life. But he does not get a chance to live the life he plans because he dies that night. (Luke 12:13-21).
In today’s epistle written by a man named James, who calls himself a “slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ”, (James 1:1) there is a similar story with the same moral: “We do not know what tomorrow will bring”! Is this where we got our oft-quoted saying: “Live each day as if it were your last”?
The famous business entrepreneur Steve Jobs was quoted saying: “If you live each day as it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” On the other hand, Paulo Coelho, Brazilian poet and spiritual writer, has been quoted as saying, “Don’t live every day as if it were your last. Live every day as if it were your first.”
Did Jesus know what he was starting with his simple story? However, if we receive this message of living fully in the present moment through whatever tale we tell to illustrate the idea, it is still good advice. Father Jean-Pierre Médaille, the Jesuit priest who helped the first Sisters of St Joseph come together in the 17th century, left us a saying: “Never think of the future except in connection with the present, but refer all to the providence of God.”
He had another saying: “Never go ahead of grace by an imprudent eagerness, but quietly await its movements, and, when it comes to you, go along with it with great gentleness, humility, fidelity, and courage.” (Maxim 8)
Sister Rosemary Fry
