By Edgar Twedt
There is an old aphorism, which says, “Life is what happens to us while we’re making other plans.” In the movie Dead Poet’s Society there is a poignant scene where the teacher has his students look at a picture of former students who have long since passed away. As the students look at the picture the teacher says, ”Carpe diem”, that is, seize the day. But how can one seize the day while “making other plans”, and what does this mean for those who are Christ’s disciples?
It is so easy for all of us to get caught up in thinking about what we’re going to do some day or sketching out so many things to do, and then never getting to them. In the meantime life goes on while we’re “making other plans.”
We need to spend more time seizing the day or doing those things which matter for Christ’s kingdom, those little things which are all a part of Kingdom living. When we do this, life doesn’t happen to us, but in an important sense we happen to life. As a once famous TV ad used to proclaim, “Life comes at you fast.” Don’t let it pass you by while you’re making other plans. “Only one life; ‘twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”