Minding our Tenses Well: Day 2
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever.
Hebrews 13:6
For a teacher whose vocation is motivated by a love of his subject there is nothing more gratifying than to know that he has inspired others to follow in his footsteps. Dedicated coaches develop great players, brilliant scientists shape the minds of those who will define the future and eloquent professors produce great poets and writers.
On the other hand, those tasked with educating their students in the traditional discipline of grammar have seen a meager harvest. Few educators have held their students spellbound by their powerful presentation of the three pronoun cases or the rationale behind the diagramming of an indirect object. In kinder, gentler times, when people wrote on paper in cursive handwriting, the rules of grammar were a basic part of public education. With the advent of e-mails, texts and messaging most of the rules of grammar have been kicked to the curb. Capitalization? Nah. Punctuation? They can figure it out.
But there is one area of grammar that is alive and holding strong: Tenses. That is because identifying when something did happen, is happening or will happen is more than just a superficial nicety. It goes to the heart of how we experience life.
Tenses—past, present, future—are also at the heart of Scriptural truth. How we treat the past, how we live this present moment and how we prepare for the future is foundational to understanding how God is at work in the world and in our lives.
Minding our tenses well isn’t a concept; it is an on-going pursuit that requires both maturity and wisdom to pull off. Living in the wrong time frame can causes anxiety, worry and is a waste our energy, But when life is lived in the proper tense there is peace, purpose and perspective: peace with our past, purpose for today’s activities and a hope-filled perspective for our future.
Bet your eighth grade grammar teacher never told you that!
Nancy Shirah
