What Are You Looking Forward To?

The other day a good friend asked me, "What are you looking forward to?" I responded, without much thought, about finishing the little renovation at home, and about the next music festival. Others might have spoken about the coming school year, or retirement, or the birth of a child.

Giving the question more serious thought later, I realized that the whole idea of "looking forward to" some future event often eclipses for us the idea of living in the moment. The song, "No Day But Today" from the musical "RENT" expresses the idea this way:

There is no future. There is no past. I live this moment as my last.
There's only us. There's only this. Forget regret or life is yours to miss.
No other road. No other way. No day but today.

Unlike the characters in RENT, many of us have some considerable lifetime ahead of us. Still, we're mindful of how important living today is, and how it impacts our futures. Since my college years I've carried this quotation with me, ascribed to an unknown, perhaps Hindu, writer:

"Look to this day, for it is life, the very life of life, and in its brief course lie all the verities and realities of your existence: The bliss of growth, the splendor of beauty, the glory of action. Yesterday is already a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision, but today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well therefore to this day. Such is the salutation of the dawn."

If you believe there is no day but today, you'll no doubt wish to live this day well. As a true believer -- whether Muslim, Jew, or Christian -- you'll consider following the commandments of your faith to be living "well." I mean to include here ALL the commandments. That probably means for some Jews, living according to the laws of the Torah. Muslims will testify, pray five times a day, help the needy, fast and reflect during Ramadan, and make the pilgrimage to Mecca. Christians will focus on living out the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself.

Living "well" this way fits appropriately with belief in the Day of Judgment. "The three Western monotheisms share the belief in an end to history and time at which point occurs the resurrection of all who have lived, the judgment of those now resurrected, and their entry into heaven or hell." (Clark, Malcolm, ISLAM FOR DUMMIES. New York, Wiley Publishing, 2003. P 68)

Judgment Day is probably not something that most of us "look forward to," but it is something that the faithful among us recognize and accept. Paradise or heaven is desired by most of us (as opposed to hell) and so, at some level, we are looking ahead to that. And while many of us believe that the unearned or unmerited Grace of God will save us, many of us also believe that "good works" will help too. "Throughout judgment, however, the underlying principle is that of a complete and perfect justice administered by Allah . . . . similar to some Protestant theologies that state that salvation is by the grace of God, and not by deeds. Islam, however, emphasizes that grace does not conflict with perfect justice."

A local billboard advertisement for a bank might motivate us to look toward our futures as we help the needy (love our neighbors) while having faith in the grace and perfect justice of God: "Make the most of your someday." Between now and someday, may we each live "well" today.

Wishing you Ramadan Mubarak (a blessed Ramadan) September 1 to 30, 2008.