I always remember Keith Wells, who married Cian and I at Maghull Chapel twenty years ago focusing on the Latin phrase ‘Carpe Diem’ in his address.
Carpe Diem: Seize the Day is an exhortation to live life to the fullest, getting the most out of each individual day. If we were honest most of us would agree that we want our lives to be full, no one wants their life to be mediocre. Quite often we get so caught up with the details of day to day living that we just don’t have time to seize the day. As the summer draws to an end and we start to pick up the pace again it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by deadlines, commitments, problems and for those long summer days of relaxation to feel like a distant memory.
The Apostle Paul believed in this philosophy of life–Carpe Diem in Philippians 3:7-9
“But all these things that I once thought very worthwhile—now I’ve thrown them all away so that I can put my trust and hope in Christ alone. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have put aside all else, counting it worth less than nothing, in order that I can have Christ, 9 and become one with him, no longer counting on being saved by being good enough or by obeying God’s laws, but by trusting Christ to save me; for God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith—counting on Christ alone.”
Here he describes his own philosophy of life in three simple steps to living a more fulfilling life. Firstly, find your purpose, secondly, forget the past and thirdly, face the present. If you follow his example, you can learn to “seize the day” and live life to the fullest, no matter how hectic your life may be. As a Christian I know that putting my faith in Jesus Christ has been the best decision I have ever made. It has given me a secure identity, knowing that I am loved unconditionally for exactly who I am. It has also enabled me to find out my true purpose in life. Living facing the present means I have chosen not to live in the past, not in the future, but in the here and now.
I firmly believe that God does not want us to waste our lives. He wants us to “seize the day” and live every day of our lives as if it were our last. He’s given us a reason for living: to be like Jesus. It’s not going to happen yesterday, so we must forget the past. We can’t put it off till tomorrow, because tomorrow never comes. It has to happen right now. No matter what the next week throws at you choose an attitude of ‘Carpe Diem’ for none of us know what tomorrow will bring.
“To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time“ – Robert Herrick
“Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
To-morrow will be dying.”