"My Best Days..."

So how would you complete that sentence? Would it be "My best days lay behind me"? Or "My best days are still to come"?

This idea has been rattling around my mind the past few days - if I don't take the time to write about it, the rattling will continue and drive me nuts.

In the course of one's life, either sentiment is plausible, sometimes simultaneously. Circumstances of every stripe influence us - whether they be political, economical, social, physical, spiritual - so it's possible to answer one way this week, and completely opposite a week from now. God created us body and spirit, with emotions, affected by external stimuli and internal conditions, both within and without our control. We aren't passive and inert - we possess will and conscience, which differentiates us from the rest of creation. We can decide how to react to situations. We can adjust our attitude to the conditions, or choose not to. Sometimes we even have the power to adjust the conditions.

I was watching "GK Chesteron: The Apostle of Common Sense" Sunday night on EWTN, and the show dealt with Progress, and progressives. He basically said that in the past, pre-Industrial Revolution, life was like a dance. It had an expected rhythm, a pattern of rising and falling that contained order and balance. But now, life resembled a race - a frenetic chaotic pace of striving towards an undefined goal: Something Better. He put it something like this - "Today's progressives want to take a trip to Canterbury, but rather than stop there, continue on for several more miles." In other words, there was no contentment with the Here And Now. It was Progress for the Sake of Progress. He wasn't advocating returning to the Middle Ages in a literal sense - but he suggested that we have lost, as a society, the aspects of that way of life which kept us happy and content. Our modern culture pushes us forward at a faster and faster rate, but have we really moved forward? Just because a product is declared to be New and Improved, it doesn't make it so. In many respects, we've moved backwards. Depression seems rampant, uncertainty is a sure thing. As a culture, our best days may very well be behind us, but the culture continues to announce that our best days are yet to come. It's schizophrenic in a way.

I think everyone has some innate sense that "things are always going to get better". Perhaps it's a defense mechanism against despair. Or maybe it's just a different way of saying "I can't imagine things getting much worse" - which, oddly enough, becomes prophetic, because then things do get worse. It's such a fine line, isn't it, between hope and despair.

Here's the bottom line - as Catholics, the key to living in joy is to be living in the present moment. Present to those we live with; present to our current responsibilities; present to our vocation. Christ exhorted us not to worry about the future, that there is sufficient evil in the present day.

Fr Corapi has said on numerous occasions - "Leave the past to God's mercy; leave the future to God's providence. God has given us the gift of today - which is why it's called the Present." I've found that advice to be very comforting as of late.

I'm not advocating sticking one's head in the sand and ignoring what's going on in the world. I'm not suggesting going all Pollyanna and blindly hoping for the best. There's work to be done in the vineyard, after all - and Jesus' parables talk about people working those vineyards, not God or the angels. Yes, God will provide, but His plan requires our involvement.

It's easy to fall into either the trap of Progressive Optimism - "Everything is always going to get better" - or the quicksand of Oppressive Pessimism - "Things will never be as good as they used to be". There's a sure and safe path between both traps - it's a narrow road, as Christ told us. And if I stick to that road - even when it's difficult - then I'll have the proper attitude and will be able to complete that sentence the way I believe Jesus would want me to:

"My best days are right now, this very day."

I look ahead with the Hope that God has promised me, regardless of whether things on this earth improve or not. I look at my past with Faith that God has forgiven my sins, and that I've learned from my mistakes and grown from them. I will try my best to live this day as a witness to Christ, with charity towards all. I will continue to count my blessings, and bear my cross with joy. I'm not always going to be successful, but I sure as heck am going to stay faithful. Regardless of whatever circumstances I find myself in, the love of God makes today the best day of my life.