Past, Present, and Future–Living in All Three Tenses

December tugs at us. The crush of gift-buying and wrapping, the social events press on us, and the “one more thing” overwhelms. We walk through life as if we are in a white-out, not knowing where to go or how.

So how do we make sense of the end-of-the-year maze?

Each year, I listen to the audiobook of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Dickens redecorated Christmas into a different spirit through the use of various spirits who visit the old skinflint on Christmas Eve. Each ghost invites him to “inspect” his life. The shiver that quakes him is not cold but fear.

In the end, the miser Scrooge sees the error of his ways. One statement rivets attention: “I will live for the past, the present, and the future”—the provinces of each of the spirits who visited him.

December is a good time to let that thought simmer and let its aroma arouse something within us. It can clear away the fog of confusion.

The Past

What happened? What good have you done? What good was left undone? Who has made an impact on your life? The only way to move forward is to acknowledge these influences. Too many people get caught up in something from their past they blame—a rejection, a missed opportunity. Everyone has regrets and missteps. Name it, admit it, and appeal to God’s grace.

The Present

What is happening in your life now? For some, it’s not pleasant—pain and disease, mortality staring back from the mirror every morning. For others, it’s more joyous—new babies born, new jobs begun. And yet in all circumstances, you can thank God for your life now. You drew breath and got up this morning. You have a day that many no longer have.

The Future

What do you want your life to be? Many are fatalists, embracing the que sera sera of life—what will be will be. But we have far more influence than we think. How we act today changes tomorrow. Make a list of people who need a friend and text or call. Small kindnesses beget future kindnesses. Take a few moments each day to be “still,” for it is in stillness you hear more. The future gets built one action upon another.

As Scrooge’s story ended, his past educated his present so he could live better, and that gave him a richer—spiritually richer—future.

Maybe this December, we can let these three visitors come quietly—in our morning coffee, our evening prayers, our moments of honest reflection.