Are you ready?

Augustine, the 5th-century AD libertine at first, and later saint of Hippo, in modern Algeria, is known for his prayer, 'Lord, give me chastity and continence, but not yet!' It wrings out of his heart the anguish of an inner conflict of a soul that recognises the virtuous thing to do, yet fears the demanding struggle against human urges and passions. In his autobiography 'Confessions', St Augustine describes his utter powerlessness against temptation, and how his faith redeems his soul in an epic struggle.

The operative part of the prayer is '...but not yet!' He knows what he has to do ultimately, but it's just that he is not ready for it yet. This is a universal dilemma that all of us face at various stages in our lives. We keep procrastinating on charity, for example, till, we tell ourselves, our own nest egg is just right. But the 'not yet' keeps on shifting the goalpost, we step back from the crease, and the good deed just never happens.

There is just no time like now to go out and do our duty to society, before circumstances change, society changes and we ourselves alter. We do not realise that the present is the only moment that is our own to make and do. The past is gone - better learnt from and archived. The future is an unknown, but an unknown that depends on our present actions.


The Greek philosopher Heraclitus aptly said, 'No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.'