“Tomorrow”
by Keith Leach, October 2024 (reprinted from October 2018)

“The sun’ll come out, tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there’ll be sun! Just thinkin’ about tomorrow, clears away the cobwebs, and the sorrow ’til there’s none!”
from the song “Tomorrow” in the Broadway musical “Annie”

No doubt we are all very familiar with this song and the sentiment that it inspires, that tomorrow will be better. Hang on and just wait until tomorrow. These are good words and this prescription has helped me often when getting through today seems more than I can bear.

Yet, like any prescription, we should be careful how it is used. It is a short-term remedy and one that we can easily get addicted to. When that happens we begin living our lives as if we have an immeasurable number of “tomorrows,” and we put things off that are better dealt with today.

Perhaps it’s because I have officiated at two funerals in the past couple of months or the cooling weather and the ominous approaching of winter but I am increasingly aware of how very fleeting our time on this earth is. It seems we are all prone to fill our precious time with things of lesser importance but of higher urgency. Many important things are put off until tomorrow. Unfortunately, by its very nature, tomorrow never comes. So often I hear people remark that they will get around to doing something, “. . . when I have more time.” Like tomorrow, “more time” never comes.

How sad it is for me to hear someone say they will start doing Bible study when they retire and have more time. Alternatively, I am told that when things calm down at work, I will be able to take that Mission Trip or help on Sunday mornings. We all know that something always comes up at work. Some things cannot wait until tomorrow.

I know that a healthy dose of optimism that tomorrow will be better is a good thing, but I am constantly reminded that today is the day I need to develop a better relationship with my loving God. Then I know that no matter what happens tomorrow, I will always be ready to be thankful!