I’m going out on a limb and reflecting on something different in this blog. Please bear with me. I attend a ‘bible’ study group weekly. It’s not your usual bible study. We are freewheeling in that we read and study all kinds of texts, religious and those not so religious. To give a sense of context, my two therapy dogs attend and keep us company. The topic I explore is not about a religious belief or dogma.
We are reading “The Gospel of Thomas,” a text outside of the Christian Bible canon. I find it fascinating and challenging. It is made up of pithy texts or logions purportedly offered by Jesus to his disciples or given in response to his disciples’ questions. Each one is profound, sometimes troubling, and always challenging. They remind me of Zen koans, (a paradox to be meditated upon that is used to train Zen Buddhist monks to abandon ultimate dependence on reason and to force them into gaining sudden intuitive enlightenment https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/koan). Last week we read one that I found particularly significant, Logion 18.
The disciples asked what their end will be. Jesus challenged them by asking what they knew of their beginning. They had no answer to this question. He added, so why try to understand your end? But here is the kicker, he then states, “Where the beginning is, the end will also be.” (p. 93. The Gospel of Thomas, translated by Jean-Yves Leloup and Joseph Rowe, 2005, Rochester, VT, Inner Traditions)
What does this mean? The commentaries associated with the logion help to decipher any meanings. The first nugget of wisdom they offer is this, everything that is happening today is the result of yesterday’s actions. Tomorrow’s reality depends on today’s actions. Everything in time is connected. The challenge to us as we live out each day is to hold this truth in mind. The choices I make and how I conduct myself in this moment have consequences that will be expressed in future events. In a nutshell, live each moment as if it matters (because it does!) To put it in a different perspective, imagine looking back on this moment, how do you want to remember it, with satisfaction and peace of mind knowing you did your best, and the results bear this out, or?
The other nugget of wisdom is that the present moment contains the past and the future. At first, this sounds similar to the above insight, but it’s different. This realization breaks down our image of linear time moving along in one direction, into the future. Grasping this truth, all is happening now, the awareness of the past, the birth of the present moment and the possibility of the future. Being aware of this opens me to everything being present. For me, this is having an inkling of the immense power of now.
In this logion I found the best explanation and reason for ‘seizing the day,’ not just to grasp an opportunity, but to live fully, and mindfully.