Things get broken. That's called life. And sometimes its nothing cataclysmic at all. Sometimes its just general wear and tear. I've long held the opinion that the hardest part of life is living. Sometimes its all we can do to just show up. But its important to realize that showing up is way more than half the battle. Its MOST of the battle. Because life is a participation activity. The only way to fail is by failing to try. Which means, if life knocks you down... get back up. Proverbs 24:16 says, "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again..." And here's where it ties into the idea of edification, and where it ties up this entire Rant series; If we stop telling people what's wrong with them and start telling people what's right with them... they will KNOW they are just and they will BE ABLE to get back up! If we train up a child in the way he SHOULD go... not by always telling him what NOT to do--because rules create rulebreakers. Strict parents create sneaky kids--but telling him what TO do, then when he is old he will not depart from it. I'm telling you, sometimes we make the good stuff too hard. Or we make it seem like its too good to be true. And I understand positive reinforcement. But I also like to do special things for my kid just because he's my kid. Just because I love him. Because that's what love IS. Its giving everything you have and everything you are. And everything you have and everything you are... is good. Remember when we looked at man being created in God's image? Well, look at what happened after He created us: "And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good..." After each thing God created He found it good. Then after He created us... VERY good. My point being, you're special. And rather than beating what's special out of people in order to get them to fit into a box... we need to celebrate what's special. We need to nourish those things so that they will grow. We need to build each other up. And not in our own images either. My son, Logan, is a big time mini-me. People even say we look alike. And I love that. He is me. I love it that we have so many things in common. BUT, at the same time, I don't FORCE that either. He likes things I like... and he likes things that I'm not crazy about. And that's ok. I let him be who he is. Because where the Spirit of the Lord is... there is LIBERTY. FREEDOM. Freedom FROM sin and death... and freedom TO live and love. Building someone up means letting them be who we are. But helping them to be strong also. So when the inevitable breaking, or wearing out, or falling down DOES happen... we will know that the fire in us is always hotter than the fire we're in. We'll know that we're not alone. We have people who love us. And support us. We'll know that no matter how many times life knocks us down... we CAN get back up. Because we're strong. Built on a strong foundation. A rock-hard foundation that is Jesus. That is love. Love never fails, right? Which means when we live by faith--faith in God... faith in love--we can never fail. It may not always look like we think it should, and it may take more time than we would like it to... but things work out in the end. If it hasn't worked out yet, its not the end yet!

I think this verse goes along with what I was trying to say yesterday: "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not" (1 Corinthians 10:23). We CAN do whatever we want. And if you don't believe that you're fooling yourself. People do whatever they want all day every day. Even religious folk. They've just gotten pretty good at hiding the things they don't want people to know about. But just because we CAN do something doesn't mean we ought to. And for me its as simple as asking the question, "helping or hurting?" And then... if it helps... do it. But if it doesn't, maybe don't do that thing. And I believe that when we really begin to come into the unity of faith, and realize and understand that we are all in this together, we will begin to see that helping others helps ourselves. We are ALL stronger when we use our strength to help others. The tide raises all ships. And I believe that when we start seeing each other (and ourselves) correctly, we will be able to--as Hebrews 12:1 says--lay aside every weight, and the sin that so easily besets us. We can begin to lay aside our hangups. Just let it go. And we can STOP tearing each other (and blaming "human" nature), and we can START building each other up. Because here's the bottom line: People need help. All people. Nobody has it all together. Nobody. We all make mistakes. We all have regrets. Life is messy. But kicking someone when they're down doesn't help. Helping or hurting, right? Lifting people up IS our new nature. Our true nature. That's what we were created to do. The God who is love created us in His image in order for us to be loved, and to love. To receive and release His love. To love Him back by loving others with the love that He loves us with. And, guys, if love is that important... that's HOW we build each other up! We love the hell out of each other. Just as Jesus did to us. I always quote Romans 5:8, and I'm going to do it again right here. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." When we had absolutely nothing to offer... when we were literally dead in our trespasses and sins, Jesus showed us what love is all about. He showed us what love really is. He gave everything He had and everything He is. Not because He was trying to get anything from us. But because He wanted to give EVERYTHING to us. So that we might have something to give. Its the idea behind 2 Corinthians 5:18, "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation." He reconciled us, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. The ABILITY to reconcile us to each other by sharing the glorious truth that we HAVE been reconciled! He edified us, and gave us the ministry of edification. The ABILITY to edify each other by sharing the love that we are loved with. You can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So it has to come from somewhere. And its the master carpenter, Jesus, who built us up. Filled us up to overflowing so that we can let what's inside come out and build each other up. Naturally. Not by forcing it, but simply by partaking of the Divine Nature. KNOWING who we are (in Christ, which is who Christ is in us) and BEING who we are. Letting God love us, and loving each other!

"It doesn't cost anything to be nice." I agree with that statement 100%. And yet... it seems like its so much easier to be mean. And when people do mean, selfish, wicked things it seems like they shrug their shoulders and blame "human nature." They say, "Meh. I'm only human. What do you expect?" But... but watch this: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (Genesis 1:26-27). And watch this: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). One more: "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power" (Colossians 2:9-10). Do you see what I'm getting at? We put this separation, or this disconnect, between God and man. Like, "He's up here, and I'm waaaay down here." When in fact we were created in His image. And He (love) was made flesh and dwelt among us. Then through the cross He took it a step further and began to dwell IN us. Jesus is the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Love in a body, filled all the way to overflowing. And, in the same way that He is complete in us... we are complete in Him. Human nature is NOT the selfish, soulful, beast nature of the Old Man. The Old Man died on the cross. And the NEW MAN was raised up to walk in newness of life. Human nature is the love nature that is letting God love you and loving others with that same love! Receiving and releasing the gift that we've been given. And here's where it ties in to the idea of edification: It really doesn't cost anything to be nice. But it is SO valuable. Building someone up... loving them... instead of tearing them down or condemning them. But it comes from within. My last verse for today: "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh" (Luke 6:45). And I'm not getting into "good men" and "evil men" today. I'm simply  saying, what's in there--what you BELIEVE is in there--comes out. We live out of the abundance of our hearts. The issues of life flow out from within the heart. So in order to build someone up, you have to let yourself be built up. Strengthened by the Holy Spirit in the inner man, right? Letting that still, small voice of God that says, "I love you" with every beat of His heart in your chest build you up. And then you can build others up. Naturally. Because when you partake of the Divine Nature you find that YOU are a divine being! That's who Jesus is--God in the flesh, love in a body. God in YOUR flesh, love in YOUR body--and that's who YOU are. Because who you are in Christ is who Christ is in you. Jesus is our true identity. The master carpenter built (and continues to build) us up. With mercy, and grace, and kindness, and forgiveness, and love. So that we can build one another up. With mercy, and grace, and kindness, and forgiveness... and love!

When you edify someone you build them up. You know, as opposed to tearing them down. You, as our key verse in Romans chapter 15 tells us, bear the infirmities of the weak. Don't sell people out... HELP people out. Because, at the end of the day, we're all in this together. The "us vs them" mentality doesn't get us anywhere. Just like how the blind leading the blind gets us all in a ditch. And I think a super important part of edification--again, building each other up--is found in Romans 8:1 (NLT), "So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus." My personal belief is that we ALL belong to Christ Jesus. God so loved the WORLD that He gave His only begotten Son... to the WORLD. So before we split hairs and try to decide just who exactly deserves to not be condemned, let's remember Jesus' words in John 8:7, "...He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." And yes, I believe that those who are in Christ are without sin. Those born of God CANNOT sin. But that doesn't give us the right to start casting stones. That gives us the right to start casting mercy, and grace, and forgiveness, and love. Which is what the world needs. When you screw up, generally speaking, you know it. You don't need someone piling on and kicking you when you're down. What you need is for someone strong to bear your infirmities. What you need when you fall is for someone to reach down and help you out. And I'm telling you, it's a whole lot easier to build something (or someONE) correctly than it is to fix something (or someone) who is broken. Train up a child in the way he SHOULD go. Don't always tells people what's WRONG with them. The world does enough of that. Start telling people what's RIGHT with them. Put people in a position to succeed. I'm not trying to brag (well, maybe a little) but I have a smart kid. So I expect a lot out of him. But at the same time, I have a five year old child. So while I understand that there are lots of things he CAN do, I also understand that there are lots of things he CAN'T do. And lots of things he is still LEARNING how to do. So, like I said, put people in a position to succeed. And when they don't... cut them some slack. There is no condemnation. There is only edification. And here's the key to all of it: "...Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth" (1 Corinthians 8:1). We know when someone messes up. Because we know how things are "supposed to be." Or at least how WE think they're supposed to be. But in the face of real people making real mistakes... charity (love in action) edifyeth. When someone messes up and you DON'T kick them when they're down... when you show them a more excellent way... that's when you really have a chance to make a difference. Because we all mess up. Because we're all human. Things fall through the cracks sometimes. And the harder we try to grip things, the easier it is for things to slip through our fingers. We need help. We need each other. We need to LOVE each other. And edify each other. We DON'T need to condemn each other. Love doesn't condemn. Love edifies.

You all know I'm hard to bother, right? I'm mostly unflappable. But one thing I REALLY don't like... is bullies. It drives me nuts when someone thinks they can be mean just because they're bigger or stronger than someone else. And I know this has rubbed off on Logan, because he always sticks up for the little guy. Which, in my opinion, is how it should be. And Romans 15:1-2 seems to agree with me. "We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification." Taking care of people. That's why we are connected to people. That's what LOVE is. I remember one time I had a random thought and I put it on my Twitter, and it went like this: "What's it called when you bend over backwards for someone...? Oh yeah, its called love." Because love doesn't demand its (HIS) own way. Love is patient and kind. Love takes care of others. Now check this out, because this is what I want to explore for the next few days: "Edification" is number 3619 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "architecture, that is, (concretely) a structure; figuratively confirmation: - building, edify." Basically, its the concept of building someone up instead of tearing them down. Which, I think, is why bullies make me so mad; they try to make themselves look bigger by making others look smaller. They don't understand that the tide raises ALL of the ships. When one of us succeeds, we can count that as us ALL succeeding. Because we are ALL members of the SAME body. And how much more CAN we ALL succeed if we work TOGETHER! Song of Solomon 5:16 describes the man (Jesus) as, "...altogether lovely. This is my beloved." And I believe the reverse of that is true as well. Jesus is altogether lovely. And we--His body--are lovely all together. There are some things that I can't do. Luckily, those are the same things that you CAN do. So while none of us can do it alone (no man is an island, and it is not good that man should be alone) together we can do anything. The biggest problem I find is that a lot of us are already beaten down by life to the point where we don't think we can do anything. We've let mistakes, or setbacks, or failures define us. We don't see ourselves the way we really are. We see ourselves the way the world tells us we are. But the world only knows the outside. The surface stuff. There's something INSIDE--the hidden man of the heart--that is our true identity. And that part needs to be nourished. It needs to be built up on that strong foundation that is the Rock (that is Jesus. That is love). My last verse for today: Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Train up a child in the way he SHOULD go. Its so much easier to build something correctly than it is to fix something that's broken. So if you're in a position to encourage someone... to build them up... to let them know how wonderful they are... I think you should do it. Because the world needs more of that. The world needs more edification. We don't need to know what's WRONG with us. We need to know what's RIGHT with us. Because when you KNOW what's right with you, you can stop trying to be someone you're not. You can embrace who you are, and BE who you are. And then YOU can build someone else up too!

We have everlasting life through our faith in Jesus, right? I think we can all agree to that. But the fact remains that we only have ONE life to live. So rather than letting the past drag us down, or the letting the future scare us with what might (or might not) happen... instead of waiting for something to happen that happened 2,000 years ago... we ought to live right now. Which means we ought to LOVE right now. Because to live is to love. And to love is to live. You can't do one without doing the other because they are the same thing. What we need to do is find that balance. LEARNING from the past without letting it paralyze us, or define us. And keeping an eye on the future while enjoying the present. Walking by faith and living by faith. Trusting our heavenly Father to take care of us, and knowing (and believing) that He always has taken care of us, and He always will take care of us. That's what any good dad would do. The father is (traditionally) the provider, right? God provided everything we would ever need when He gave us His only begotten Son. When He gave us Himself. When He gave us His Holy Spirit. When He gave us His love. So instead of wasting our lives running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to be someone we're not, and get something we (think we) haven't got... we can rest. We can let go and let God, as they say. We can live. Right now. Because He lives in us. Right now. The past is history. The future is a mystery. What we've got is today. And its a gift. That's why its called the present. So what we ought to do is start ENJOYING that present. Even if we aren't exactly where we think we're supposed to be. Sometimes its a long and winding road. Sometimes you have to do it wrong before you can do it right. That's called learning and growing. And that's the maturation process that IS this abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life. Which, by the way, is also a present. Its the GIFT of God. You don't have to--and in fact can't--earn it. You simply have to receive it, and release it. Receive it BY releasing it. A love that is so good you just want to give it away. Beause that's how you experience love; not by getting, but by giving. Because love IS giving. Which means LIFE is giving. Giving everything you are and everything you have. And letting that be enough. You don't have to get a response, or a result. That's not on you. Your part is simply to give what you've got. To live from the inside out. To know and believe that God's love is in your heart, and to let it out. To let the Word (which is Jesus, which is love) become flesh as you act in love. Charity. Love in action. A life where you don't worry about yourself, but where you put others first. Which, unless you KNOW that God has your back and will take care of you, is almost impossible. But when you DO know that God has your back and will take care of you... that's when you can live fearlessly. That's when you can LOVE fearlessly. Which is what perfect love is. Perfect love casts out fear. Fear of rejection... gone. Fear of losing what you've got... gone. Fear of the past... gone. Fear of the future... gone. So that you can live... right now. LOVE... right now. This life is what we've got. And when we live a life of love we make the absolute best of it!

I want to take a little bit of a different view on things today. I want to focus on Hebrews 11:1. In the King James version of the Bible it reads, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." And that phrase, "Now faith" is where I'm at right now. Because we have a now God. It drives me nuts when people talk about "waiting for a move of God." And, listen, you know I don't want to condemn anybody. Its just that if you're waiting on something... that's not faith. That's hope. You hope something will happen. Faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for. The MANIFESTATION of things hoped for. And, I gotta tell you, the move of God that most people are waiting for happened over 2,000 years ago on an old rugged cross. God moved when He gave His life FOR us, and TO us. We don't need to keep waiting for a move of God. We need a revelation of Jesus, so that we can UNDERSTAND the move of God that already happened. So that we can enjoy Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us. Let me say it this way: God moves every time YOU move in love. That's when the Word (which is Jesus, which is love) is made flesh. That's when love becomes charity--love in action. And that's when we truly live. Because to live is to love and to love is to live. Look at Romans 1:17, "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." See, we don't JUST walk by faith. We LIVE by faith. Because our faith is in God. Our faith is in love. God living in us. LOVE living in us. So that's how we live right now; we love right now. We let God love us and we love Him back by loving each other with the love that He has loved us with! I like Romans 1:17 even better in the NLT, "This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has life."" The move of God--that already happened--is that God made us right in His sight. When God looks at you He sees Jesus. And when God looks at Jesus He sees you. Because He lives in you, and you live in Him. Right now. Not on some glad morning after you do enough to be good enough. Right now. Now faith. Believing that what the Good News tells us is true... today. Not waiting for something (that has already happened) to happen, and robbing ourselves from experiencing and enjoying it... but receiving and releasing the gift of God that we've already been given! Experiencing the gift by sharing it. By giving it away. Because love IS giving. You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving. So don't wait until you earn something that can't be earned. You'll be waiting forever. Let the Holy Spirit lead and guide you into all truth. That truth that the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. The truth that your heavenly Father loves you unconditionally. And then, once you know that you have something, give it away. You have it... right now. You can give it away... right now. You can walk by faith--by walking in love--and you can LIVE by faith. What you believe is what manifests in your life--either what the world tells you, or what God tells you. The world tells you what's wrong with you. God tells you what's right with you. God tells you, "I love you." So if I were you I'd go with that...!

The future is always trying to pull us forward, while the past is constantly trying to hold us back. The trick is to live RIGHT NOW, with an eye to future, and by LEARING from your past but not letting it define you. I said that's the trick, because it can be kind of tricky. Its a balance. You don't want to sacrifice your future to live lavishly right now (i.e. getting in over your head in debt). And you don't want to let bad experiences stop you from having ANY experiences. What you ought to do... instead of not taking the journey at all, or trying to fast forward to the ending... is enjoy the ride. Look at Colossians 3:23, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." Now I've preached this verse extensively regarding the "heartily" part. The idea of doing something because its in your heart to do it. And I focused on the word "unto." Because when you have the mindset of doing something FOR the Lord, "Jesus is my boss," and all that, then you lose the joy for what you're doing. It becomes an obligation. A weight around your neck that drags you down. But for this Rant series I want to pinpoint the phrase, "Whatsoever ye do." Because no matter where you are--or even where you think you ought to be--there's something you can be doing right now. And before I go any further I want to point out that baby steps will still move you forward. Look at Zechariah 4:10 in the Message Bible, "Does anyone dare despise this days of small beginnings..." Remember when we talked about the mustard seed? The smallest seed that grows into the biggest tree? What's that old saying? "I may not be where (or who) I want to be... but thank God I'm not where (or who) I used to be!" Its a journey. A process. And, in a sense, it starts right now. Because right now is what you have. So be a lighthouse. Shine your light wherever you are. Whatever you do... do it the best you can. There's a sign at work that says "The reward of a thing well done is to have done it." (Or something close to that.) Sometimes you have to give it all you've got no matter what the result is. And, by the way, that's my personal definition of love. Gladly giving everything you are and everything you have, no matter how it is received. Because getting someone to receive your gift isn't the point. Kindness isn't kindness if you're looking for something in return. And we should always be kind. Because that's one of the things (along with, say, forgiviness, and mercy, and grace, and love) that the world is desperate for. And if you're shining your light--LETTING your light shine--then you're giving the world what it needs. Whether the world knows it or not. Or will admit it or not. Or will accept it, or receive it, or not. But, again, that's not your business. Your business is love. Pure and simple. Look at what God told Jeremiah, "Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee..." (Jeremiah 7:27). The point is not whether or not someone listens. The point is that you are giving them what you've got. Doing whatever is in front of you to do. Living life to the fullest--right now--by doing what you can do, where you're at, with whoever you come into contact with. Do your best... and forget the rest. Give it everything you've got. Then it'll either be enough... or it won't. And either way, you've done what you could do.

Worrying about the future can rob you of living in the present. You need a balance. In my opinion its a little bit foolish to live as if today was your last day. (And I really do understand the sentiment about not putting things off until tomorrow, because there might not BE a tomorrow. But at the same time, if you squander everything you have today... you won't be in a very good position when tomorrow DOES come.) So its important to live in the now. To be where you are, but also to keep an eye on where you want to go. And in the same manner... its important to LEARN from the past without letting it DEFINE you. Because living in the past can be just as devestating as living in the future. Now don't get me wrong, it's almost impossible to NOT be shaped by your past. If you touch the stove, and its hot, you probably won't do that again. That experience helped to make you who you are. But there's a BIG difference in not TOUCHING the hot stove again... and refusing to USE the stove at all. There's a big difference in making a mistake and LEARNING from it... and letting a mistake stop you from ever trying again. The only true failure is failing to try, right? "I can't cook. I burned my hand on the stove once." That's letting the past define you. And, in a way, that's letting the past DESTROY you. And this is really taken to another level when we talk about what I always talk about: Love. I once heard a preacher say, "If you've never been offended by someone at church, you're probably new here. Give it time." And his point was, if you're looking for the perfect church where everybody gets along all the time... don't hold your breath. People are people no matter where you go. And MY point is: Just because you've been hurt... you shouldn't stop putting yourselves out there. There's a song lyric that says, "I'm giving up on love, cause love's given up on me." And I think that's how a lot of people feel. We get hurt in the realm of love--even though what we generally think of as love isn't even close to REAL agape God love--and we shut it down. Because we don't want to get hurt again. And we think that's what Proverbs 4:23 is all about: "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." Other translations say, "Guard your heart." And we seem to think that in order to guard, or keep, our hearts we need to shut them down. You know, so we don't get hurt again. Build a big tall all and keep people out. But the PURPOSE of our heart is to receive and release the love of God. And God works through people. In order to live--RIGHT NOW--you have to love. And in order to love you have to let yourself BE loved. Because to live is to love and to love is live. They aren't just connected; they are the same thing. And you can't give what you don't have. You can only give what you do have. So you have to let love in. You guard, or keep, your heart by keeping it OPEN. By being open to love. By letting God love you. By letting PEOPLE love you. And then releasing that love once you receive it. And, yeah, it can be scary to keep reaching out after your hand has been slapped away. But I'd much rather be naive than cynical. I'd much rather get hurt than not feel anything at all. So when we're talking about living (by loving) right now... we can't let the past kill us. We can't let what already happened hold us back from what's going to happen. We can't get stuck. We have to keep moving upward and God-ward! We have to learn from the past without letting it define us, or destroy us!

I know I've preached and Ranted on this before, but I'm convinced that God has a master plan. A masterful master plan in which all things (that are already IN Divine Order, because of the cross) are revealed to BE in Divine Order. In which the Son(s) of God manifest in the earth and begin to rule and reign as kings and priests. (Again, we already ARE the Son(s), and we already ARE kings and priests. What all of creation is waiting for is the MANIFESTATION of what we already are.) But the question seems to be: What do we do in the meantime? Because we know that our God is a NOW God. His timing is perfect, and His timing culminated on that old rugged cross 2,000 years ago. But it seems like we, as a species, spend so much time either thinking about the past--and letting the past define us--or worrying about the future that we miss out on right NOW. There's a saying for that: "The past is history, the future is a mystery. All we have is right now. Right now is a gift. And that's why its called the present." So, in a word, what we do in the meantime is... live. And I'm not saying you should live like you're going to die tomorrow. I'm saying that--in the light of the gift that we've been given, which is the abundant, eternal, everlasting, Resurrection Life of God--we should live like we're going to live forever. We shouldn't squander what we've been given. We should be good stewards. Psalm 17:14 in the NLT says, "By the power of your hand, O LORD, destroy those who look to this world for their reward. But satisfy the hunger of your treasured ones. May their children have plenty, leaving an inheritance for their descendants." And, as a father, I have to tell you I think about that a lot. I want to leave my son in a good place if I end up going to (and through) the grave. I want to make things better for him than they were for me. I want him to have an inheritance. My point is, if we squander what we've been given today, and we have a whole lot of tomorrows left... that's no good. But at the same time: "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" (Matthew 6:34). There has to be a balance. I heard it said one time that, "worrying is like praying for what you DON'T want." And if we spend all our time in the past, or the future, we miss out on NOW. And what we do now AFFECTS what happens tomorrow. So instead of worrying about it... DO SOMETHING about it. Build that better world. Because when you do that, when you work on a better tomorrow, you end up with a better today. Even if you don't see the results right away, you have the accomplishment of a hard days work. You have that feeling of, "I was productive today." You take what you have right now, and you use it wisely. What's that book that preacher wrote? "Eat the cookie"? Something like that. I think. Anyway. You shouldn't make yourself miserable today in the hopes of a better tomorrow. But you shouldn't sacrifice your tomorrows for a momentary pleasure today. Eat the cookie? Yes. Go bankrupt because you want ALL of the cookies RIGHT NOW? Probably not a good idea. Patience is a virtue, and good things often take time to build. So, like I said, balance. Live right now. Right where you are. But don't let what you want right now rob you of what you want most...