Ever Lasting Day…No Other

My Life is but an instant, a mere passing hour,
My Life escapes and flies away, this single day, no other

You know O Lord:  a future bleak?
Beg you for tomorrow, I shall not, cannot!…
But keep my heart pure,
put me in your shade 

Just for this day, no other

Soon I shall fly to sing your praise,
And I leave this day, no
other. Then I shall play the angels lyre
And no longer say that on my soul it sets,
This day no other,
But on my soul it shines:
Your everlasting day, all other!

This beautiful poem was written by St. Therese of Lisieux.  Her life and writings greatly inspire me.  Even as a small child, St. Therese demonstrated her love for God through simple every day gestures. In many of her writings, she tells us not to focus so much on our weaknesses.  Instead, we must accept God’s love for who we are – flaws and all.

“Living for the day” is hard.  It isn’t easy to live our lives without worrying about what tomorrow may bring.

So how do we not allow all the potential “what if this or that happens” thinking consume us?

In her prayer, St. Therese first acknowledges the brevity of life. She admits that the future can look worrisome.  Yet though she knows that she can ask the Lord for the assurance and promise of another day, she vehemently chooses not to.  Instead she asks for the purity of her heart and for the protection of his shade.  She asks this of God – just for the present day in the here and now – no other day – not tomorrow or always – but just for the very present moment of time at hand.  That day alone.  I wonder at what point in her life she wrote this prayer.  Perhaps during her tremendous battle with the pain of tuberculosis.  It may very well be that she knew she was approaching her last day on the earth. She completes her prayer by describing the magnitude of the day in which she was living.  It is a day that is – everlasting like no other because it was a grace given by God.  She gives him ownership over her day calling it “your everlasting day.” A day filled with so much wonder that she could still see shining on her soul, despite her suffering.  St. Therese gives us a wonderful way to think about living one day at a time.  To treat each day as no other – to let every single day be worth — all other. How wonderful are her words….I continue my journey in learning all I can about my beautiful patron saint –  St. Therese – the Little Flower.

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