Four men went for a swim in a lake. The first, a geologist, looked around the lake, and expounded on how the lake came about as a result of millions of years of geologic shifts of the earth.

The second, a businessman, scoffed, “All you are interested in is the past. Think of the present. This place could be made into a tourist resort.” He then went on to expound on the business opportunities for hotels, restaurants, golf courses and the like.

The third man, an environmentalist, was shocked. “How could you be so selfish and narrow-minded? Think of the damage to the environment and the terrible consequences for our future generation.” He went on to expound on the harm done to the wildlife, the breakdown of their food chain, and catastrophic effects on the world.

The fourth, a journalist, did not join in the discussion. He saw a storm coming and left the lake, while the three men continued their vigorous debate. He subsequently submitted a report for the next day’s headlines, “Three men drowned in lake arguing about its past, present and future.”

Which one are you? Are you the geologist, the businessman, or the environmentalist? Are you preoccupied with the past, the present or the future? Or are you the journalist, who got out of the lake when he saw the storm coming, the one who survived to tell the story of the other three?

How should we view time in its three dimensions: what has happened, what is happening and what will happen?

A famous Christian quote says “…But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind, and straining toward what is ahead…”

Let us consider our past today.

Has your past been a good one or a bad one? For some of us, God has blessed us with a relatively smooth-flowing life. We have passed our exams, gotten good jobs, have stable marriages and families.

But let us not allow that to make us proud and aloof over others who may not been as fortunate. It is easy to become judgemental, self-righteous and complacent—to think that somehow we are better than others.

On the other hand, there are some of us who have had a bad past. We have gone through one problem after another. We have been let down by people, slandered by enemies, betrayed by friends. We have met with disappointments, setbacks and failures.

In the process we have become disillusioned and cynical. If we are not careful, we can live in the past, feed on its bitterness and allow resentment to lodge in our hearts.

The writer does not allow that to happen. It is in this sense that he declares, “Forgetting what is behind, and straining toward to what is ahead…”

He wants to put behind him the pride over the past, as well as any bitterness over the past. How do we do this?

How do we view the future?

Someone once said of the difference between men and women: “Men want to know what the future has in store. Women want to know what the store has in future.”

In any case, all of us, in one way or another, are interested in the future. Parents want their children to do well in school so that they can have a better future. Insurance agents urge us to buy policies to insure ourselves against the future. Couples in love talk excitedly about buying an apartment or house so that they can enjoy it together in the future.

Business people look at the news and try to predict how stocks and shares will perform in the future. Politicians worry about the future as they discuss about the dangers of terrorism, the flu epidemic, and the world economy. Older folks moving towards the age of retirement also ponder over what they will do in their twilight years.

Whether we admit it or not, all of us think about the future. Just like the past can take us along one of two paths—pride or bitterness—so the future can also do the same: worry or denial.

Many of us who think about the future worry about it. We are not sure if we can cope with the future. So many things are uncertain. There are too many imponderables. Will we have enough money? Will our children turn out well? Will I still have my job? What if my health breaks down?

The other path we could take when we ponder about the future is denial. We refuse to let it affect us. In fact, we may even refuse to think about it.

As Einstein puts it, “I never think about the future—it comes soon enough.”

In other words, they live only for the “here and now.” They are not interested in anything beyond the immediate and the earthly. It’s interesting that it is said of them that “their god is their stomach.” I wonder if he is talking about certain group of people.


All they can think of is their appetites, not only appetite for food, but many things beside: pleasure, money, status, comforts, the easy life—anything that is here and now. “Their mind is on earthly things.”

Of course, we should care for food and other basic necessities. But if our concern is only for such things, and nothing else, something is wrong. We are not only a physical being, a body with a stomach; we are spiritual beings with needs beyond the physical.

We do not only live in the present; we have a future to reckon with. What we do now have consequences into the future. We cannot say, “I don’t worry about what happens in the future; I live only for today.”

If we do take care of our diet today, we will suffer a heart failure tomorrow. If we do not watch our spending today, we will face financial hardship tomorrow. If we do not overcome temptation today, we may lose our marriage tomorrow.

This is true in many areas of our lives: health, finances, marriage and family. It is even more important when it comes to our eternal destiny. If we ignore or neglect Spiritual development today, we will have a problem facing issues that call for vales and integrity .

We cannot afford to deny the future and live only for the present. Neither should we worry about the future and fail to live for today.

Neither worry about the future nor denial of the future is healthy. How then should we view the future? Let’s see how to view the future.

We are fearful about the future because it is uncertain. We worry about the future because we have no control over it. We can plan, and our plans can come to nothing. We can project, and our projections become useless because of some unforeseen circumstances.

When we look at the world today, it does not always appear that the good is winning over the evil. Injustice seems to have the upper hand. In our personal lives, things happen that we absolutely cannot explain, because they seem so random, unfair, and pointless.

"You know, dear," she says, "I look in the mirror, and I see an old woman. My face is all wrinkled, my hair is grey, my shoulders are hunched over. I've got fat legs, and my arms are all flabby."

She turns to her husband. "Please say something nice to me to make me feel better about myself."

He studies her hard for a few moments, and then in a soft, thoughtful voice, says, "Well, at least your eyesight is still good.”

Well, even eyesight for some of us is failing. How can we look with hope to the future when we know that our body is breaking down, and that some day it will cease to function altogether?

Let us start our day with an attitude of gratitude for all the wonderful blessings we have and carefully plan for our future balancing work and life and realizing that material gains are not the only ones to gather. We need time for inner spiritual development. The sooner we start this the better our future will be. 

Prof.Lakshman