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Poem 78 by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Write it on your heart every day is the best day in the year.
He is rich who owns the day,
And no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety.
Finish every day and be done with it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in.
Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day;
Begin it well and serenely,
With too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense.
This new day is too dear, with its hopes and invitations,
To waste a moment on the yesterday’s.©
I attended the funeral of a friend this past Saturday and this Emerson poem was part of the program. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a 19th-century American philosopher, minister, and writer. He held these ideas: people are best when they are independent and self-reliant, and not puppets of society and its institutions; intuition is a higher form of intelligence and can lead people to do the right thing; all creation is essentially unified; and divine experience is inherent in everyday life.
I stumbled on the first three lines of the poem, scoffing at the idea that happy thoughts make everything better. But the next two lines made me smile, “Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could.” We all hold a lifetime of joys and regrets, some of us are more comfortable with regret. I believe God has no intention that we hold on to anything from the past. I believe God intends for us to live in the present, basking in the eternal light and love of our risen Savior. This is a very difficult task for me and I know I am not alone. I cling to the things that I am comfortable with, things behind me that cannot be changed. I want to cling to every moment that I am experiencing now, joyful or sorrowful, knowing that God is with me in all these things. We urgently need to focus on today and what we can do today to share the love of Christ with the world. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6: 34, ‘Don’t worry at all then about tomorrow. Tomorrow can take care of itself! One day’s trouble is enough for one day.’ (JB Phillips New Testament).
Max spoke Sunday about the mustard seed and the little things we can do to cause something good to grow. I pray for us to all have those little things in mind as we move through this day knowing that this new day is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on yesterday’s.
I am preaching Sunday. We will talk more about clinging. My love to all, Mary
PS: I am hearing from all of you how lovely the fellowship hall decorations are. Thanks so very much to Cindy, Sheila, Lindsey, and all the others recruited to spiff up our fellowship hall!
