In the well known Broadyway musical "Annie" the title character sings an ear-piercing version of the song "Tomorrow" in which she sings, "Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow. . . You're only a day away." Like many of us, Annie is expecting a brighter day tomorrow than the one she knows today. And, like each of us, she has no way of knowing if tomorrow will ever be hers to claim.
In the well known Lord's Prayer of the Christian religion, the supplicant asks God to "give us this day, our daily bread." In other words, "help me right now today, to meet my needs." It is not a prayer asking forgiveness for past transgressions. It is not a prayer seeking future goals. It is a simple focusing on the here and now, in order to cope with whatever trials or struggles for survival we may currently face. And, really, isn't that more than enough to deal with at any one time?
This is a good philosophy for living our lives. We can't change history. We are not guaranteed an opportunity to participate in the future. Every day is an opportunity to create a memory that can last a lifetime. Every day gives us time to make an impact on the world around us. Every day is more than just the sum total of the fears and the projections of gloom and doom that seem to assault us from all sides.
We have these opportunities every day, that is, when we are living in the present. The Lord's Prayer does not ask for an immediate solution to all the problems that may ever come our way. It asks only for the sustenance to cope, on this day, with the issues that we are currently facing in our lives.
This phrase from the Lord's Prayer leaves us with the understanding that tomorrow we will have to ask again, seeking one more portion of strength to get us through that day as well. Knowing that tomorrow must be dealt with on its own merits makes it easier to devote all of our strength and resources to coping with today.
Being able to narrow our problems down to the much simpler list of events that are actually taking place right now frees up time and energy to appreciate the world around us. Even in the worst of times there is beauty in the world. When we let go of yesterday and stop worrying about tomorrow we can take time to laugh, to share a meal with those we care about, to hug a child or help a stranger.
The moment we have right now is the only one we can be sure is ours to claim. "Give us this day, our daily bread." Tomorrow will take care of itself. The best preparation we have for a great tomorrow is living in the present today so that everything will be in place and allow us to move on.