The author of James says,
You do not know what tomorrow will bring.
What is your life?
For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
James is naming what Buddhists call impermanence,
A teaching that I have found immensely freeing to
Incorporate into my spiritual understanding and life as a Christian.
Impermanence is the knowledge that our lives are not permanent,
But fleeting.
We're only here for a period of time,
And during that time,
We're in a constant state of change,
Both externally and internally.
We can see this in the continual cycles of nature's seasons.
After a long,
Barren winter comes the fruitfulness of spring,
And spring is followed by the abundance of summer.
Only for the vibrant greens to warm into reds and then browns,
As leaves crumple and fall to the ground,
So the cycle can begin again.
Yet we are always craving stability.
Even if we like the excitement of change,
We want the good things to be permanent.
We want to be able to make plans and keep them,
Guarantees on how we invest our energy,
Dreams,
Time,
And money,
And we certainly don't want to experience loss or suffering.
But ultimately,
We can't control any of it.
We don't know what tomorrow will bring.
We are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes,
And accepting this reality leads to our own inner freedom.
Buddhist monk Pema Chodron says,
We can continue to resist reality,
Or we can learn to frame things in a new way,
Seeing our life as dynamic and vibrant,
An amazing adventure.
Then we will truly be in contact with the freshness of each moment.
If we can embrace continual change in this way,
We'll start to notice the hum of anxiety,
Quieting down and slowly,
Slowly fading away.
In other words,
In accepting the reality of our impermanence,
We can begin to live in the present moment,
Because that is all we are really guaranteed.
We can practice receiving what each moment brings,
Watching for what will dynamically unfold,
And responding accordingly.
In the Christian worldview,
We also believe
There is a source of love that brought us all into being
And lovingly guides us,
Working towards the restoration and wholeness of all creation.
A source of love that knows infinitely more than us
And always has our greatest good in mind.
So when James says that rather than boasting about our future plans,
We should say,
If the Lord wishes,
We will do this or that.
He is reminding us to live surrendered to the Creator,
Who is trustworthy,
Loving,
And all-knowing.
While we make plans,
Cast vision,
And hold out hope for our futures,
God is ultimately meeting us in the present moment,
Which is divinely unfolding in God's divine timing.
As Jesus taught us to pray,
We can rest assured
That we will have our daily bread.
And as the Israelites learned in receiving manna in the wilderness,
Our daily bread will be waiting for us again tomorrow.
Now James reminds us that this is only
If the Lord wishes for us to be there.
So may we find freedom in accepting the reality of our impermanence
So that we may be fully present in this moment,
Surrendered to the Creator,
Who is lovingly guiding our lives
And giving us the strength we need
To respond to each moment's dynamic unfolding.
