הדרך הו' כל עת יכון לקראת אלהיו. כי לא ידע האדם את עתו. על כן כליותיו ישתונן. ובצדקה יכונן. להשיב רוחו בטהרה אל האלהים אשר נתנה. ויחפש דרכיו ומעלליו בכל יום. יפקדם לבקרים ולרגעים יבחנם. ואמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה ר' אליעזר אומר שוב יום אחד לפני מיתתך אמרו לו תלמידיו רבינו וכי אדם יודע באיזה יום ימות אמר להם כל שכן ישוב היום שמא ימות למחר ונמצאו כל ימיו בתשובה. ואומר (קהלת ט׳:ח׳) בכל עת יהיו בגדיך לבנים ושמן על ראשך אל יחסר. לובן הבגדים משל על נקיות הנפש בתשובה והשמן משל למעשים טובים ושם טוב. עוד אמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה בענין הזה.
משל לאשתו של מלח שהיתה מתקשטת ותשם בפוך עיניה ובעלה עובר אורחות ימים ותאמרנה לה השכנות הלא בעלך הלך בדרך למרחוק ועל מה זה לשוא תתיפי. אמרה להם בעלי מלח הוא אולי יהפך רוח ים וקל מהרה יבא וימצאני והנני מקושטת. ויש על האדם לשער בנפשו בהיותו שאנן ושלו. איך ידאג לבבו ויראה ורעד יבא בו ביום המות בהיותו נכון לעלות ליתן את החשבון. ואיך יתודה בעת מותו בלב נשבר. וככה יעשה כל הימים יתודה בלב נדכה ויהיה מורא שמים עליו:
The sixth path is that he should prepare to meet his Hashem every instant. Therefore he should darken his conscience and prepare in righteousness to return his soul in purity to Hashem who gave it [to him]. So he should search his ways and his plans every day - record them in the mornings and examine them all the time. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Shabbat 153a), "Rabbi Eliezer says, 'Repent one day before your death.' His students asked him, 'Our teacher, but does a person know the day on which he will die?' He said to them, 'All the more so should one repent today, lest he die tomorrow; and so one will spend his entire life in [a state of] repentance.'" And it states (Ecclesiastes 9:8), "Let your clothes always be white, and your head never lack oil." The whiteness of clothes is a metaphor for the cleanliness of the soul that has repented; and the oil is a metaphor for good deeds and a good name. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, also said about this matter (Kohelet Rabbah 9:6), "There is a [relevant] parable about the wife of a sailor who would adorn herself and paint her eyes while her husband was traveling on the seaways. So her neighbors said to her, 'Didn't your husband go on a faraway journey? So isn't this beautifying of yourself for naught?' She said to them, 'My husband is a sailor. Maybe the sea wind will change and ease it for him to come quickly and he will find me - and behold I [will be] adorned.'" And when a person is at ease and tranquil, he should assess in his soul how his heart will worry, fear and tremble when the day of death comes to him - that he should be prepared to rise and give an accounting; and how he will give a confession with a crushed heart at the time of his death. So the fear of heaven will be upon him. [Shaarei Teshuva 2-15]
Tomorrow Never Comes
by Norma Cornett Marek
If I knew it would be the last time That I'd see you fall asleep, I would tuck you in more tightly and pray the Lord, your soul to keep.
If I knew it would be the last time that I see you walk out the door, I would give you a hug and kiss and call you back for one more.
If I knew it would be the last time I'd hear your voice lifted up in praise, I would video tape each action and word, so I could play them back day after day.
If I knew it would be the last time, I could spare an extra minute to stop and say "I love you," instead of assuming you would KNOW I do.
If I knew it would be the last time I would be there to share your day, Well I'm sure you'll have so many more, so I can let just this one slip away.
For surely there's always tomorrow to make up for an oversight, and we always get a second chance to make everything just right.
There will always be another day to say "I love you," And certainly there's another chance to say our "Anything I can do?"
But just in case I might be wrong, and today is all I get, I'd like to say how much I love you and I hope we never forget.
Tomorrow is not promised to anyone, young or old alike, And today may be the last chance you get to hold your loved one tight.
So if you're waiting for tomorrow, why not do it today? For if tomorrow never comes, you'll surely regret the day,
That you didn't take that extra time for a smile, a hug, or a kiss and you were too busy to grant someone, what turned out to be their one last wish.
So hold your loved ones close today, and whisper in their ear, Tell them how much you love them and that you'll always hold them dear
Take time to say "I'm sorry," "Please forgive me," "Thank you," or "It's okay." And if tomorrow never comes, you'll have no regrets about today.
