Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. – Proverbs 27:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 20, 2013): Proverbs 27

In William Shakespeare’s tragedy “Macbeth” there is a passage that comments on the prospect of tomorrow in what is possibly one of the most famous soliloquies ever written by the playwright.

            Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow

            Creeps in this petty pace day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all of our yesterday’s have lighted fools the way of dusty death.

Out, out, brief candle.

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour on the stage,

And then is no more.

It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

The words are spoken by Macbeth (the protagonist and anti-hero of the play) as he waits for his enemies – Malcolm III of Scotland and McDuff - to besiege his castle. He is confident that he is going to be able to wait out and survive the siege, but it is at that moment that he hears the scream of a women - a scream that does not bother him amidst the unimaginable horrors of the day until he is told of the death of his wife. These words are Macbeth’s reply to the news. There is so much that he had planned – so many ways that he felt that he could succeed – but at this moment he comes to the understanding of how fragile tomorrow really is. For a moment it no longer matters whether or not he survives the attack that is coming. For this moment, all of his dreams have disappeared. All the plans that he had are no more than a story told by an idiot; the story is nothing but noise (sound and fury) and it means nothing.

Shakespeare talks about tomorrow from the truth that we all recognize; tomorrow never really comes. Everything can be put off into a tomorrow, until the inevitable moment comes in our lives when we simply run out of tomorrows. For all of our promise and predictions, we just do not know what it is that tomorrow may hold.

Last week I attended the funeral of a friend. One of the comments read at the funeral was from someone who lived a distance away and had fallen out of contact with man being honored. He said that they were sorry to hear of his illness. It was not something that was expected. There was still this idea that a man even in his seventies should still be able to enjoy life. And yet he was gone.

This proverb reminds us of the temporariness of life. Be careful what you say about tomorrow – whether it is in the good or the bad, because we just do not know what it is that tomorrow holds. The only thing that we really have the ability to do is to make the most of the today that we are experiencing right now.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Proverbs 28