Blog Sloth in a Time Warp

Sorry for my blogging slothfulness these days! I'll try to be more inspired. But really I'm starting to think that it's not my fault that so much time keeps passing between posts. Somebody seems to have pushed the fast forward button on my life and it's cut about 3 days out of my week. You may have been told all your life that there are 7 days in a week, but it’s a lie! I mean, is it just me or are there only 4 days in a week lately? I'm sure I'm not the only one to have noticed because everybody else keeps mentioning to me how quickly time is flying. It's really starting to freak me out. I think I've fallen into a time warp.

Exhibit A: Went to visit Gertrude, an elderly lady, today, and she asked me, "What day are we now? Tuesday, Wednesday?" "Thursday," I replied.

Exhibit B: I'm speaking at a small group from church next week. They asked me to speak two weeks ahead of time so I thought "No problem, I've got plenty of time." Somehow I now have only 5 days to prepare, but I swear it was just a few days ago that they asked me.

Exhibit C: So you know how I just went to Thailand? Yeah, that was two months ago now.

Exhibit D: A friend recently wrote "Can you believe it's almost the end of the year?" What?! Not only does time pass too fast, we have to speed it up even more by looking ahead. The other day I actually had to pause to think whether it was really still the year 2005 or if it was '06.

Exhibit E: When I flip open my agenda I end up in September. Is anyone else having this problem? Every single time I’m surprised at how much the year’s calendar is already filled up.

Exhibit F: Tonight the topic at the university Bible club was "The Notion of Time." I feel like I've got that notion coming at me from all directions! It's like time is this evil enemy who has taken over the controls of the universe and he laughs menacingly as he looks down on us scrambling around trying to keep up with his pace.

But I was reminded by the talk that was presented that it is up to me to manage how I live in time. We can be free from its frenzy! Rather than fighting against time, always trying to "save" or "gain" it, we can live in it seeing each moment as an opportunity given. The speaker said when we fight against time we're fighting against ourselves. And it's a losing battle. Do you know anyone who thinks that they've been a great success in "time management"? It seems to be the desire of the age to be a master of time. But in that very pursuit time has become our master!

"Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You turn men back to dust, saying, ‘Return to dust, O sons of men.’ For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of morning—though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered…The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty if we have the strength…Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a hear of wisdom…” Psalm 90

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-14

What are we gaining when we rush around to pinch a minute here and there? Where’s the bank account to put all of our “saved time”? Our age puts on a pedestal the one who knows how to cram productivity into every breathing moment. But the wise person is the one who simply knows the right moment for each activity…and who is willing to let activity cease…and who isn’t afraid to be with himself in stillness…and who seeks God in everything.

In the morning sometimes I already feel defeated knowing that I won’t “accomplish” what I should that day. When I lay down at night sometimes I feel remorse for not having been “productive.” There’s this constant stressed feeling that doesn’t come from any real pressing matter. Today I had a full day. I woke up already tense about all that I had to do, but as I reached to open the bedroom door and begin my tasks I took a deep breath and reminded myself that I simply had to do each thing as it came and not worry about what was coming next. We can choose to rush around with our minds perturbed and our watches set 5 minutes ahead, or we can live each moment to the fullest as it comes. I’m going to stop praying that God will help me be more productive and start praying for discernment to simply know what to do with each moment that is given to me. The end result may not look that much different, but it will make all the difference on the inside.

I could go on and on about this topic of time. Our society really has a problem in this area. God definitely has another way of doing and seeing things. I’ll reflect some more and see what else I should share.

In the mean time you can do an exercise that we did tonight. What is the first animal that comes to mind to describe the way you approach your work? What does that image tell you about yourself?