E=MC2
Monday, January 23, 2023
“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” – Albert Einstein
“If I only knew then, what I know now.” How many times have you thought or said those words of lament? Growing older has a way of giving us an added perspective on life, something that replaces the vigor of youth with the wisdom of age.
Unfortunately, we cannot jump into a time machine, revisit a certain point in the past, and retroactively correct our mistakes. On the contrary, we must live with them – or at least their consequences – and move on. The key, however, is learning valuable lessons from what we did right and what we did wrong so we can repeat the rights and avoid the wrongs.
Something else we should try to avoid, in addition to living in the past, is living in the future. While it is prudent to set goals and plan ahead – especially for the proverbial “rainy day” – tomorrow is not promised, let alone guaranteed. We all know far too many people who died young and never got to enjoy their Golden Years.
The best approach is the one suggested by Albert Einstein, whose IQ was estimated to be around 160. Einstein advised people to live in the moment – while applying lessons from the past – in order to prepare for the best possible future. One of the keys to this process, he believed, was to never stop questioning. Einstein believed that an inquisitive mind was the secret to aging gracefully and successfully.
It's hard to argue with a man who developed the theory of relativity, won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921, and is universally considered one of the greatest minds of the 20th century. Likewise, it’s even harder to disagree with the Apostle Paul, whose writings on this subject were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Paul advised his readers to forget the past and push boldly into the future… all for the glory of God.
I am sure that Einstein and Paul would agree that carrying past regrets (and accolades, too) can be both cumbersome and counterproductive.
“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12-14 (NKJV)
- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President
