We stubbornly expect something illusory from the future … What we are chasing will never come.
Newsdesk (03/03/2025 9:59,Gaudium Press) Because we are rational and understand the concept of time, human beings are the only creatures capable of living in the here and now full of dissatisfaction, with their minds and desires focused on yesterday or tomorrow. This would be good in the sense that we can use our past as experience to live prudently, without repeating the same mistakes, and also so that, looking ahead, we can glimpse what awaits us and often have the strength to get through the difficult, challenging and even tedious present.
But, unfortunately, it is not usually for this purpose that we move back and forth in our thoughts. Too often we learn little from what has gone before and reproduce the same mistakes like photocopiers. At the same time, we harbour unrealistic expectations about what is to come, believing in a type of fantasy happiness that will never exist.
What do we expect from the future?
In childhood, the future is about being a teenager; in adolescence, it is the dream of coming of age, of having more freedom, of walking on your own two feet!
At 20 … a career, marriage, children, money, property! At 30, it is about enjoying life, clinging to youth as if it were going to last forever.
At 40, a little more experienced, we want to ‘get it right’ or at least try to fix what went wrong and maintain our achievements.
At 50, the concern is wellbeing and health and, deep down, the secret desire not to grow old. And at 60?
Even with the ailments of advancing age, it is common to still want to build something monumental, to make a difference, to leave your mark on the world. And, I’m sorry to say, it is sad to see people at this age with the dreams of adolescence and youth, with no sense of propriety or concern for the future of their soul.
This phase can also be one in which human beings are struck by the desire to accumulate. Accumulate to secure the future! To accumulate goods instead of enjoying them, contrary to God’s will: “This is what I have seen to be good: it is fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us; for this is our lot.” (Eccl 5:18)
What does the future hold for us?
Year in, year out and, although we enjoy a certain amount of joy and have some achievements, we continually live with challenges, suffering, the temptations of sin, the rising cost of living, illnesses, losses, disappointments, the consequences of political governments and misgovernments, but we stubbornly expect something illusory from our earthly future, something that will always be good, pleasurable, that will give us glory and eliminate all our problems, a kind of all encompassing Lotto Max, Mega Millions, or Powerball.
We are immersed in reality, which is usually harsh, challenging and provocative, but we cannot help but harbour a secret desire for endless happiness.
This is what we expect from the future, but what does the future expect from us?
If we could think of this hidden future governed by time as an entity, a being, with desires, as we have them, what would it want from us?
Certainly, it would want us to be better, more responsible, not to kill ourselves, not to hurt each other, not to betray or abandon the vows we have made, whether it be religious life or the holy Sacrament of Marriage.
Surely the future would want us to have peace in our hearts and share it with our fellow human being.
What we are chasing will never come
Above all, the future would like us to understand that life passes, that it is unique and that the secret to finally being at peace with it and with ourselves is simplicity, faith and conforming everything to God’s Will: at each time, during each season of life, with the things proper to it, its joys and its sorrows.
And wisdom consists in understanding and accepting this, having the past as a guide, our feet well grounded in the present and our hope anchored in the future, but not in the ideal future on this earth, but in the future in the Kingdom of God, which requires an active attitude and a constant decision from us.
Poor man, who so eagerly pursues a utopian future here on Earth, because that future will never arrive and he will wander aimlessly, without direction, and with disappointment and revolt as his companions on the journey and, with them, the great disaster of a lack of faith.
Once again, let us rely on the wise words of the Book of Ecclesiastes: “In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; God has made the one as well as the other, so that mortals may not find out anything that will come after them.” (Eccl 7:14)
Anything beyond that is mere illusion.
By Afonso Pessoa
The post What do We expect from the Future … What does the Future expect from Us? appeared first on Gaudium Press
Compiled by Roberta MacEwan
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