Time Petrified

Defined by a second, creating the future,

Unending options, the past and now suture.

Though I do feel its presence, I know it must end.

It seems time is the one thing that I cannot bend.

This moment, this fleeting moment, I stand at its shores,

Every past one now lies behind locked doors.

Except sight through a window, all access denied,

Real life in paintings, like time petrified.

***

The more I think about it, the more it baffles me. We only have this moment. The past is immovable - petrified, a painting behind glass. We can change how we talk about it. We can change how we think about it, but it remains the same. No amount of regret will alter that fact. No worry will mold the past even just a bit in our favor.

And what about the future? Yes, it may move towards us, but once we come face to face with it, it is simply another moment now. No amount of planning will make the future predictable. No preparation can make it certain.

So, really, only one question is truly relevant:

What am I doing now?

For, now is the only time I can do anything at all.

It is now that I can confess my transgressions.

It is now that I can seek forgiveness.

It is now that I can grow in faith.

It is now that I can determine the trajectory of my future.

It is now that I can learn and grow.

And it is now that I can rejoice and give thanks for this life and the blessings I have received.

If it is not now that I do these things, it will never be.

This moment is all I hold in my hands.