Past, Future, Present

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

I came across this watching Days of Our Lives last week. What happened was it was graduation, so the whole young crowd gang (Belle, Chloe, Shawn etc) were all graduating, and then Jennifer came up for an alumni speech I guess, and at the end she gave this quote. I think these words speak a lot to me, however it’s hard to realize it as the truth, because as humans, we are prone to always look in the past, and either learn from it for the future, or dwell on it.

For those of you who do not know who Ralph Waldo Emerson is (I know I did not, until I look it up just now), he was a Unitarian minister but left that profession for a career as a writer and public speaker. He is one of the most quoted fellows I have ever seen.

So anyways, is it really true that what we have inside of us is bigger and more important that what our future holds or what we’ve done in our past?

I think a lot of people would agree with this notion, because let’s say there is a person who has done something bad in their past. Maybe justice was served, maybe it was not, but if they say they have changed, then they would totally agree with this quote, that who they are now, truly inside, is more important that what they have done in the past.

I could agree with that, but I think it’s hard not to “judge” a person what they have done in the past. Because it’s the only thing you have to go by on what kind of a person they are, or maybe even can be. But is it fair to that person to be “judged” on what they have done?

Regarding the future, is that a “tiny matter”? I guess it is small, because the future can be anything, so no point in worrying about it. You do not know what the future holds for you, so why dwell on it?

So that brings us to what I guess I meant by “what’s inside” of us, which means the present time. Except Ralph put it in such better words. But then, if what’s inside of us that counts, nobody can really see it. Yesterday I mentioned that God knows us better than we know ourselves, he knows of our faith better than we know our own faith, He looks into our hearts. So “what’s inside” is important, and God can see it. However, in the real world, nobody else can.

It’s hard to convince people of who you are without mention of your past. You have to provide the facts, and the facts can only come by means of past experiences. So then it goes back to being judged by your past.

So as much as this quote means a lot, it only means a lot to ourselves and God, but not to anybody else, because this world is based on facts. You want somebody to believe something, you have to a) provide the facts, or b) convince them based on your reliability (thus your past). This world is just not “fair”. I guess it works out well for some, and not for others. So I think the past is more important, because you can't change it, it will forever haunt you, and your always looked upon based on what you've done, it's just not fair.

Today’s Current Events:
- France loses to Denmark 2-0, eliminating themselves from the World Cup
- GO Transit maintenance workers get tentative deal to end strike
- UK planning investigation of Princess Diana death, which also means people like Prince Charles will have to testify.
- Mobster boss John Gotti dies

Oh, and I found this interesting article about blogs in the NYTimes online, so if your subscribe (it’s FREE), here is is. Article