Now

 

It is now ten minutes after three

And here I am before my computer

I guess you knew that though

That should produce some laughter.

I guess you also know what I am doing

Right now I am typing; you are smart,

Typing what you need not ask,

This poem you are now reading: that’s a start.

Now we know what each of us is doing

Let me deal with the matter at hand,

It is now three-seventeen in the morning

I am awake; that was not the original plan.

But you see ever since retirement

I have no set sleeping time,

I just have this feeling whenever the opportunity

To express what ever is on my mind.

It is not that I cannot sleep

Actually I have slept for a bit before

But right now I am awake

Since I do not feel like sleeping anymore.

I know you are reading this poem now

Because now is when you are reading it,

Whenever we get around to doing something

Now becomes the general habit.

It might not be the same now

As was the original plan

But now is now whenever that is

And that goes for both woman and man.

That brings me to the point;

Someone promises to do something now

But does it five days later,

How could that be? Tell me how.

That may be your query

But it is certainly not mine

Because whenever that something is done

Now would be that time.

  

You see the past no longer exists

It is just a memory,

The future never ever comes

Now is the reality.

We spend much time discussing the past

While the now is ever before us,

Short term, mid-term, long term projections;

It is the future about which we fuss.

Hence we are unable to sort out the now

Since the past is always on our mind,

The future beckons and we are not prepared

Little worry about the present time.

Yes, what we currently are going through

Produces some anxiety

But that is nothing compare to the outlook

As though living tomorrow now is a possibility.

I trust by now you have gotten my point

About the importance of the now,

The past is gone; it is gone forever

And the future is not ours however much we vow.

That’s why promises are just what they are,

They are simply utterances that we vow

And if ever we make good on their delivery

That can only be done when that time is now

Nothing in the past changes anything now,

The past does not have that power,

Neither does the future, whatever we may think,

The ultimate reality is the present hour.

The Bible makes this point particularly clear

The address is 2Corinthians 6 and verse 2,

Before continuing go to that location now

And see what it says to me and to you.

The emphasis is now; it is mentioned twice,

It is a matter worth contemplation,

“Now is the accepted time,” it says

“Now is the day of salvation.”

Do not take the now in this matter lightly

For it has to do with one’s destiny,

It is not a concern about the future tomorrow

But about one’s future eternally.

The truth about this matter ultimately is

That now is the present reality,

It is in the now that one must act

To procure a favourable destiny.

God is not slack concerning His promise

But in the now is long suffering to all of us,

He is not willing that any of us should perish

But that in the now accept His Son, Jesus.

Right now if you hear his voice

Harden not your heart,

Come to him right this very moment

Right now would be the best time to start.

Stewart Russell © November 2017