"We never keep our minds on the present moment. We remember the past, as if we wanted to slow down the passage of time. And we look forward to the future, as if we wanted time to accelerate. We wander about in times that do not belong to us, and do not think about the only time that does. We dream of times past and future, and flee from the present. The reason is that the present is usually painful. We push it out of sight because it distresses us - only on those few occasions which are truly enjoyable are we sorry to see time slip away. We try to reduce present pain with joyful hopes of the future, planning how we are going to arrange things in a period over which we have no control and which we cannot be sure of reaching... The past and the present are our means, and the future alone is our end. Thus we never actually live, but hope to live. We are never actually happy, but constantly planning how to become happy."What a challenge to think about the present in a different way...
Tuesday, 20 November 2007
hoping to live... but not living
I read this quote from Blaise Pascal (French mathematician and theologian who lived in the 17th century) today - wow.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Thanks for finding this - it reminds me that I've often thought it to might be useful to read Pascal's "Pensees" - I've downloaded a copy for my PDA from http://www.abacci.com/msreader/ebook.aspx?bookID=13132.
ReplyDeleteThinking about Pascal's comments from the viewpoint of our relationship with God, I think that when we see God's creation as an ongoing activity, the present becomes the only moment in which we can live, because that is where God puts us. Though God (being unrestricted to time as we are) is present in past and future as well as present, God chooses to meet us here in the now, and not to wait for us to come into the then (either past or future). To be able to respond properly to Jesus'call on our lives, we need to look for God's presence and for God's presents (=gifts) in the now moment.