Rabbi's Message
Live now, Live in the Present, Live Today!
The story is told of a king who wished to know “something that would always be true.” He summoned all of his counselors and wise men and inquired of them; however, try as they might, no one could think of something that would always be true. The king thereupon became obsessed with this quest and offered a large reward to anyone who could give him the answer. For years, people appeared before the king trying out their various ideas, but none could think of something that would always be true. At last, one day, a stranger from a distant land came before the king and said, “your majesty, the only thing in the world which will always be true is.........things will change.” And indeed, that is the only constant in the universe.
We are not today what we were yesterday; and what we were yesterday, we were not the day before. Scientist tell us that physically our entire organic structure replaces itself on the average every seven years. In life itself, we are constantly changing our roles. One day we are children, soon adolescents, then young adults, spouses, parents and grandparents, and so on, up the ladder of life. If there be any fixed rule about life, it is that change and flux are its chief characteristics.
We must understand this basic rule of living and arrange the changes within us as individuals and within society as a group. In truth, we are always playing different roles on the stage of life; and we know that the real actor always makes the most of the role assigned to him/her for the moment.
In a similar vein, we must learn to taste to the fullest and enjoy to the utmost the present role we are enacting. It is a part assigned to us for a limited number of performances. For whatever number of performances we play, we must make certain that our critical notices be of the finest. And we can only do this by living our part to the fullest of our integrity. What we are today, we shall not be tomorrow. Let us seize the moment, before change gives us another role in life.
When I first got married, I was as many of that age, dealing with an intense amount of stress due to work, paying off college bills, etc., and I was always under the impression that "things will be better when....”. A favorite uncle caught me saying this once and told me that the greatest mistake in his life was waiting for life to begin, and not really living in the years he spent overworking to provide for his family. I think this was the most honest and meaningful thing that he ever said to me. Since that time, now many years ago, I find myself stopping from time to time and thinking about his words and awakening to my current situation in life. Indeed, nothing says it more succinctly than the Latin expression:
Nunc vive noli morari
Now live! Refuse to delay!
