Good Plans Oft Go Awry

Jesus says in Matthew 6:34, depending on the particular translation of the Bible you may be reading, either “take no thought for tomorrow,” or “do not be anxious about tomorrow.”  In my mind, these are two very different ways of dealing with tomorrow.  “Take no thought” means, for me, at least, that we should not bother to plan or prepare or think about our tomorrows.  We should simply live in the present moment—for “it has troubles enough of its own.” “Do not be anxious,” on the other-hand, means, for me, don’t worry about tomorrow and its difficulties, but by all means go ahead and plan and ponder and prepare for tomorrow, just don’t worry about it, for today “has troubles enough of its own.”  “Thought” (thinking, intelligent, sensible, rational, logical  and sound judgment) and  “Anxious” (worried, fearful, troubled, disturbed, stomach in knots, and in a tizzy) mean two totally different things to me. 

So it is that I’ve always taken “thought” for tomorrow.   I plan my tomorrows (but I don’t usually worry or suffer anxiety about them).  I write  appointments, chores, visits, engagements, etc.,  in my calendar’s tomorrows, sometimes even months and years in advance of the happening.  I take thought for tomorrow, don’t you?

But sometimes “The best laid plans of mice and men/Go oft awry.” John Steinbeck took the title of his 1937 novel Of Mice and Men from this line in  Robert Burns’ poem, To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest With the Plough, November, 1785.  According to legend, Burns was ploughing in a field and accidentally destroyed a mouse’s nest, which it needed to survive the winter.  The poem is an apology to the mouse for wrecking its well-laid plans for its tomorrow.

For the past several months we’ve been planning a trip west to visit friends and family—all the way to Flagstaff, Arizona.  I couldn’t wait to get on the road again. Our nest (best laid plans) got “ploughed up” this week! My wife, Cher, experienced one of those “golden year” health issues.  She is feeling and doing fine, but travel is not recommended. Our best laid plans (like those of all mice and men) have gone awry.

I think maybe the best way to mark my calendar these days is with a pencil, rather than in ink.  Perhaps that is what Jesus meant.  Dream, plan, hope, and wish for whatever tomorrow you want—but just mark it down in pencil in the event the plough comes through.  Tomorrows are a wonderful gift—and should be thought-out and  planned with care—but always recognized as a “tomorrow” and not a “today.”

"So do not be anxious about tomorrow; tomorrow willl
look after itself.  Each day has troubles enough of its own"
And always--keep an eye out for the plow!