Tell Me,… When Does That Tomorrow of Yours Come…

This week we are worried. This week we are crowded. This week we are frantically trying to do some things we have left too long. But next week—next week is going to be different! Next week things will ease up. Next week we shall have time for some of those long-neglected loose ends. Next week we shall be “over the hump”—and then—then—tomorrow—always tomorrow—

Tomorrow we shall feel easier. Tomorrow our work will be in better order. Tomorrow we shall relax. Tomorrow we shall live!

But “tell me,” said Marcus Martial some nineteen centuries ago—”tell me, . . . when does that tomorrow of yours come?”

Often it seems that we live for the time when we shall live more like we should like to live. But next week or next month isn’t likely to be much different—unless we do something to make it different.

This is true for various reasons: It is true because we so often say “yes” when we know we ought to say “no.” It is true because we often say we will do things that seem easy a few days off—but which are difficult to do when the day comes for doing them.

We incur debts and promise to pay. Right now it looks as if it wouldn’t be too difficult. But the future comes fast when a debt is due.

We sometimes neglect things that have to do with our safety and our very salvation. And we find ourselves apologizing for our failure to do what should be done because, as we say, we haven’t had time.

And, of course, it is true that making a living, and other “unavoidable” activities, often press us into patterns that are not of our choosing. But even those of us who are most pressed for time, even those of us who have the least choice, have some choice. And the fact that we choose to do some things and don’t choose to do other things is often an indication of what we consider to be most important.

There isn’t much reason to suppose that there will be any more time next week, or tomorrow, or next year. The difference, if there is any, will be a difference in what we do with our time. Next week may be better; next year may be better. But it will have a better chance of being better if we do something to make it better. “Tell me, . . . when does that tomorrow of yours come?”