The Blessedness of Instantaneous Rear-Vision

“If we are ever in doubt about what to do, it is a good rule to ask ourselves what we shall wish on the morrow that we had done.”

~John Lubbock.

Regrets are fashioned in a crude, relaxed, lazy moment.

I know this very well. Perhaps it’s a moment of tiredness mid-morning—about powernap time—when I don’t show a loved one or work colleague the interest they deserve, as I withdraw into myself.

This is but one example of something we all do.

To have the propriety of consciousness and not respond as we should is overt sin; not of the variety where we miss the mark because of faltering awareness. Yet, there’s always the excuse—for me it’s usually temporal tiredness. It’s nothing five minutes worth of shuteye can’t fix. Still, I’m lowering the bar.

Gifted of To-morrow, To-day

Imagine heeding that warning in the mind... “Smarten up, Steve; you’re not giving this person the attention they deserve...”

Many situations, it’s the case that they clear don’t think about it until it’s too late—perhaps an hour’s gone by and the thought of that missed-mark suddenly flickers into recognition... “Oh, no!”

It’s therefore a blessed thing to know in a moment what we’re to do. Then it’s just a case of doing it. Said another way, it is a great gift to have the cognisance of what needs doing and be able to change approach accordingly.

This is hitting our targets in life—the opposite of sin, which is righteousness.

It comes to some easier than it does to others, but all can learn and apply it.

Putting Paid to Regret

Imagine a vision of life where there are positively no regrets. Moments are handled with aplomb, and even those which aren’t we’ve got the skills for coping via the hand of honest restitution.

There’s no need for regret when these initiatives and responses are employed:

1. The Initiative: discern the will of God in present moments and get used to doing it without hesitation. This requires us to become distinctly competent at reading present situations and our place in the midst of them. That done—an active awareness—is the initiative.

Note: the above we will fail on occasion. We’re human after all.

2. The Response: mistakes are made for many reasons—both intended and not. Why bully ourselves when it would be better to respond immediately, making restitution? Sort it out. This is maybe the most profound thing any of us can learn about dealing with our wrongs.

Instantaneous rear-vision is very simply living with the view of tomorrow, today.

In many cases, it’s not even tomorrow—it’s fifteen minutes later when regrets might begin to surface, creating a spiritual itchiness hard to bear.

With instantaneous rear-vision time is allowed to stand still whilst we fix errors as they’re occurring, and, at times, before they occur.

© 2011 S. J. Wickham.