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Editorial: Today's the Day by Kevin Sims
Today's the Day
TODAY is special. Today is history in the making. ‘Why?’ You may ask. Is it Thanksgiving, Columbus Day, the Queen’s wedding anniversary or perhaps the General’s birthday? Well, when you read this it could be any of the above, but that’s not what is important. Today is special because it’s unique – when it’s gone, there’s no way to get it back.
Today, babies will be born, grandparents will die. Today, somewhere, someone will meet their soulmate while another person will miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime.
Today is exciting, today is sad, today is joyful, today is ... the only today we will ever have.
Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is still out of reach, but today we can do anything.
Salvation Army members around the world were shocked by news of the murder of Colonel Bo Brekke, Territorial Commander of Pakistan, in late September. The terrible loss of an inspirational leader was a brutal reminder of the importance of today and a sobering reminder that we can’t take tomorrow for granted.
Bo, a Norwegian Salvation Army officer, was a great example of a life spent making the most of today. In his service in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan with his wife, Birgitte, lives were changed – through the Brekkes’ spiritual ministry but also through their willingness to look for practical ways to lift people out of poverty, such as through the development of ‘Sally Ann’, the Salvation Army fair trade programme which began with a relationship between Bangladesh and Norway but is now expanding far beyond those countries. In time, thousands of people will have an opportunity to escape from poverty.
I’m reminded of John Maxwell Edmonds’s famous but often-misquoted wartime epitaph: ‘When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrows these gave their today.’ Colonel Bo Brekke made his ‘todays’ matter to others and, for that, he is remembered with great love.
This issue of All the World contains many stories of people giving their ‘todays’ – offering their time and abilities, giving up a comfortable life to bring comfort to others.
In Peru, Salvation Army workers turned down the offer of a comfortable hotel room to camp out with people who had lost their homes; in Jamaica, Salvationists forgot about hurricane damage to their own homes to take aid to others; in Congo Kinshasa, Salvation Army officers gave out of their meagre resources to care for the emergency services worker who came in to help their community.
All these people understand that tomorrow isn’t worth a thing – it’s what you do today that matters. Today is special.
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