NUGGETS OF THE NEW THOUGHT/PART 6
TO-MORROW.
The
work and cares of to-day easy if we do not worry about those of To-morrow—The
mysterious To-morrow and its terrors—The way to meet the cares of
To-morrow—To-morrow’s opportunities will come as surely as To-morrow’s
cares—Law supreme—No need to be afraid—The real To-morrow.
The work
of each day would be a pleasure if we would refrain from attempting to perform
at the same time the work of to-morrow. The cares of to-day would cease to
disturb us, if we would refuse to anticipate the cares of to-morrow. The work
of to-day is easily performed, notwithstanding the fact that we spoiled the
pleasure of yesterday by fretting about the tasks of the coming day. The cares
of to-day do not seem half so terrible as they appeared viewed from the
distance of yesterday, nor do we suffer nearly as much from to-day's burdens as
we did yesterday in bearing these burdens in anticipation.
To-day is
comparatively easy for us, but Oh, to-morrow. Aye, there's the
trouble—to-morrow. The past is gone, and its sorrows, cares, troubles,
misfortunes and work do not seem so terrible viewed from this distance—the
misfortunes of the past are now often known as blessings in disguise. To-day is
here, and we seem to be getting along fairly well—excepting fearing the dawn of
to-morrow. But to-morrow—Oh! mysterious to-morrow—that delight of the
child—that bugaboo of the "grown up"—what shall we say of to-morrow?
Who knows what terrible monsters are lurking in its gloomy recesses—what
frightful cares are slumbering there—what dreadful shapes are there crouching,
with glowering eyes, awaiting our coming? No frightful tale of childhood begins
to compare in horror with this fantasy of maturity—to-morrow.
Yesterday,
with all its troubles—to-day, with its pressing tasks—affright us not, but
to-morrow, ah! to-morrow. Tell us of the morrow! Who knows what a day may bring
forth? Tell us how to meet the terrors of to-morrow! Forsooth, an easy task,
good friends. The way to meet the terrors of to-morrow is to—wait until
to-morrow.
The cares
of to-morrow indeed! 'Twould be laughable if it were not so pitiful.
To-morrow's cares may come, will come, must come, but what of to-morrow's
opportunities, to-morrow's strength, to-morrow's chances, circumstances,
helpers? Don't you know that the supply of good things does not cease with the
close of to-day? Don't you know that in the womb of the future sleep
opportunities intended for your use when the time comes? Don't you know that an
earnest, confident expectation of the good things to come will cause these good
things to grow for your use in the future? Well, it's so; they'll grow and grow
and grow, and then when you need them you will find them ripe and ready to
pick. Water them with Faith; surround them with the rich soil of Hope; let them
receive the full rays of the sun of Love, and the nourishing fruit of
Opportunity will be your reward—to-morrow.
Did you
ever shiver with dread at the thought of what would happen if the sun should
not rise to-morrow? Did you ever doubt that the grass would grow and the trees
take on leaves next Spring? Did you ever fear that perhaps the Summer would not
come? Oh, no, of course not! These things have always happened and you have
sufficient faith to know that they will occur again. Yes, but you have been
fearing that opportunities, chances, circumstances, may not be present
to-morrow. Oh, ye of little faith do you not know that this is no world of
chance? Do you not know that you are working under the operations of a great
Law, and that these things are as much amenable to that Law as are the seasons,
the crops, the motion of the earth, the planets, this and countless other solar
systems, the UNIVERSE!
The Law
which regulates the motions of the millions of worlds, and whose jurisdiction
extends over Space—that Space the abstract idea of which cannot be grasped by
the puny intellect of man of to-day—also takes cognizance of the tiny living
organism too small to be seen through our strongest microscope. The sparrow's
fall comes under the Law as well as the building of a magnificent series of
solar systems. And yet, man fears to-morrow.
Of all
living beings, man alone fears to-morrow. Children, lovers and philosophers
escape the curse. The first two look forward to it with joy and confidence,
having the love that casteth out fear; the philosopher's reason teaches him
that which the intuition of the other two has grasped. The child intuitively
recognizes that the infinite supply is inexhaustible and naturally expects
to-morrow's supply as he does to-morrow's sun. He has faith in the Law, until
Fear is suggested into his receptive mind by those who have grown old enough to
fear. The child knows that "there are just as good fish in the sea as ever
were caught," but the "grown-up" fears that to-day's fish is the
last in the sea, and fails to appreciate to-day's haul by reason of his worry
about the possible future failure of the fishing industry.
Oh No! I
do not believe in just sitting down and folding my hands and waiting for
"mine own to come to me." I know that "mine own will come to
me," because I am doing well the work that the Law has placed before me to
do—that which lies nearest to my hand to-day. I believe in work, good work,
honest work, cheerful work, hopeful work, confident work. I believe in the joy
of work—the pleasure of creating. And I believe that he who does his best work
one day at a time working with faith, hope and confidence in the morrow, with
Fear eliminated from his mind and replaced with Courage—I believe, I say, that
such a man will never find his cupboard empty, nor will his children want for
bread.
And
furthermore, I believe that to-morrow is what we make it by our thoughts
to-day. I believe that we are sowing thought-seeds to-day, which will grow up
over night and bear fruit to-morrow. I believe that "Thought takes form in
Action," and that we are, and will be, just what we think ourselves into
being. I believe that our minds and bodies are constantly being molded by our
thoughts, and that the measure of man's success is determined by the character
of his thoughts. And I believe that when man will throw off the incubus of
Fear, the frightful vision of the night will vanish, and, opening his eyes, in
the place of the monster he will see the fair form and smiling face of a
radiant creature, who, bending over him with love-lit eyes, will softly
whisper, "I am TO-MORROW."
Comments
Post a Comment