Living in time

Publish date 11-05-2022

by Cesare Falletti

Another new year! It is logical to ask the usual question: "How will it be, how will I live it?", And many others of the kind, like the one that bothers you if you say it aloud: end, or ...? "
On the one hand, the passing of time brings with it a considerable amount of waiting. He expects the pandemic to end, to be able to find a friend, to be able to finish a job that does not go on, or to find a job, to do something beautiful, and many other expectations, some of which may even be dyed dark, because a subtle fear of the future always risks living there. On the other hand, especially after a certain age, there is a risk of looking back a little sorry for not having been able to live the past time well, or taking a sigh of relief and hoping that with the year everything that is difficult will also close. or painful it was endured "last year".

Maybe we don't tell each other, but we know well that we are not masters of the flow of time and events; the best interior position we can hold is that of availability to what will be and of the confidence that we will never be alone, because the Lord does not see time pass and is always present with all his infinite dose of tenderness, his tireless mercy, his heart as a Father that does not age and as a lover that no betrayal discourages.

Strengthened by this certainty, we watch the days flow towards us still closed in the gift box. As the book of Proverbs says, speaking of the wise and prudent woman who knows how to manage the things of her family, "she laughs at 'future', so we too can feel serene and strong not because we have everything at hand, but because we do not consider life an enemy, but simply a training ground in which to live the good fight, as Saint Paul would say.

The gym serves to be agile and strong and possibly winners against adversity. Precisely our littleness in front of history, both the one that marked our past (even before our birth), and the one we still have to live, allows us to stand firm and look at what is to come with humble pride.
Fear has no right of access to our heart, because it is not a good counselor and not even a good instrument of discernment. It is useless, because it does not make us win. We need caution, not fear.

Time passes, slow or fast. In a sense it is the house we live in, not a furnished farmhouse where we spend a few days of vacation, but the house where we spend the essentials of our life , of our relationships, of work, of love. Although we do not have a hold on its flow, we can furnish it and give it a character that distinguishes us, in a certain sense, making it "ours". In fact, our life is unique and will remain so: no one can live it in the same way as us, as in any inhabited house, even if furnished in a standard way, it is enough to have lived there for a few days to ensure that it is recognized as ours.

How to face, then, the days that are to come? The image that comes to mind is that of a wave, or a shower, or any other liquid thing that gets wet: the more you it is naked, the less we fear it, our body is made to deal with them. The first beatitude, that of those who have a poor heart, not greedy for the things of others or attached to their own, is a good recipe for enjoying the time that is to come, because it takes away our fear. Attachment to life is also a ballast that risks making us sink, while living as best as possible every moment we are given, the present time, frees us and allows us to joyfully enter the future that becomes present.


Cesare Falletti
NP January 2022

This website uses cookies. By using our website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy. Click here for more info

Ok