ABOUT TIME
It’s about time everyone is saying. We have had a very snowy-icy winter this year. We are having a beautiful sunny day today! Not too hot and not too cold. Just right! I was able to take a walk today. I love getting outside and smelling spring reawakening, the birds singing, buds on the trees and the bushes giving us hope of spring once again. This is a beautiful season, but that is not what I want to center my thoughts on today.
I want to talk about time as it relates to our lives and actions. The years, days, hours, minutes and seconds that happen to us. We have so many new gadgets to help us spend less time in the kitchen. I love my microwave-don’t think I can live without it. But I am old enough to know that as a child, we did not have one, they were not invented yet, but we still survived! I am so glad we have dishwashers to help us with the dishes. When my mother was a child, she told a story about a time they had a lot of family over for a meal. There were not paper plates back then, so there were a lot of dishes that needed to be washed. You guessed it, my mother and her sister had to wash that mound of dishes! My mother’s sister talked her into filling the bathtub with soapy water and washing them there since there were so many. It still took time for them to do it this way, but they were so proud when they were done. When my grandmother came to check on their progress, she was surprised to see them finished. Then, she figured out where they had washed those dishes. Yep, they had to wash every one of those dishes again, but in the kitchen sink. There was a lot of time involved in that particular day washing dishes, but it is a moment in time she always remembered. When they were done, they probably said, it is about time!
I got an invite to my great-granddaughters first birthday! How can a whole year have gone by since she blessed our family? My new little grandbaby in Virginia is five months old. That blessed day seems like yesterday! This year will mark the tenth year that I have been a widow. This year my mother has been gone three years. How can that be? How can time go so quickly? Time marches on while we are going about our everyday lives. Let’s think for a few minutes about the fact that time slips away so quickly and what are we doing with that time.
Today, we have so many devices that we feel we need to be using and looking at all the time. We have so many shortcuts that we utilize. When it was Ash Wednesday, I saw on a church’s sign that they had drive-thru ashes. All the person had to do was drive up to the spot designated and get ashes and then drive away. I heard on the radio, of a church that had drive thru communion. Take a bite of the cracker, take a drink of the grape juice and be on their way! How often do you go out to eat or at your dinner table at home, and everyone is looking at their cell phones? People can sit at home and order food deliveries. We can also order our groceries on line and have them delivered. I find myself always texting instead of taking the time to talk to a person. We have technology now that we can send an email that has a birthday message in it or a note to someone who is sick letting them know we have been thinking about them. Someone at work, the other day, said that they figured that greeting cards would someday become obsolete. There are actually some stores who have decided to not stock as many. If we are saving time with the inventions and technology of today, why does it seem we are busier than ever before. Where is that time we are saving? What are we doing with that time? Are we feeding our minds with the negativity that technology can show us?
On the other hand, technology can be an amazing tool we can use to communicate with others and spread God’s love. When we had ice and snow, there were several church services cancelled. I felt glad we had technology because I was able to watch a church service in another state, live. There is a time and place for technology and short cuts. I have a friend who has trouble writing anymore because of physical restrictions and she does a lot of emailing. That is amazing that she can correspond that way. Technology can help us still be in contact with others and that is great. I am so happy that I have the ability to see my Virginia little grandchildren and talk to them. On Christmas Eve, I have started a tradition of reading “The Night Before Christmas” to them and seeing their little faces listening. This last year, while reading about the part when he “threw up the sash,” my seven-year-old grandson, said “he threw up?” What joy it was to be able to spend that little nugget of time with them, laughing and interacting one on one!
The Bible tells us that our life is but a vapor. (James 4:14) Our life is so short compared to eternity. Some are blessed, like my grandmother, to live almost 100 years. But then there are those who make bad choices, using drugs or alcohol and end up in an accident that takes their life or another’s at a young age. A vapor is like when it is really cold outside and we breath out. That one breath is like our life going out into the air; referring to how quickly it disappears, not that our life has no meaning. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, is a very familiar Bible verse. It lists fourteen “times.” “A time to be born, a time to die…. A time to keep silence, a time to speak…A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.” (my dad would quote that last part when my husband and I were dating. Ha!) These verses beautifully scan the life and different times that a person lives. It is a fact that we have these “times” in our lives. But what are we really doing with them?
Don’t let the use of our wonderful technology or the ease of doing things, take away from the time that we should be shining our light for others to see. We cannot stop connecting to people of this world. The Bible tells us that we are to spread the message of Jesus to others. How can we do this if we isolate ourselves and do not get out into the world? We cannot live in our little bubble of negativity that technology tries to feed us, but need to eat the morsel of positivity by physically interacting with others and sharing the love of God.
Think about how you spend your time today. I know that I can get on Facebook and before I know it an hour has gone by! Have you gotten lost in your cell phone and all it is trying to make you believe? Or have you taken a walk and prayed to God in thanksgiving for the beauty of this season? Have you actually talked to someone today? Have you made their day better by having seen and talked to you? Our lives are dwindling away every day, every minute, every second. Get away from what this world offers and get back to God who only offers you love, mercy and grace. When you do, your life will turn around to being more centered as the servant of God and you will gain peace from the busyness of this world.
Don’t you think it is “about time” to reach out to God and others instead of the things of this world that can pull you down. In the big scheme of things, we are here and known for such a short amount of time. Use your time wisely. Sit down and play a game with your children. Get up and go to church and interact with other people of God. Sit still from the busyness of this world, clear your head and refocus on what is truly important for your life and your soul.
So, don’t you think it is about time to come back to God? Center your heart on what really matters. Use the time you have on this earth wisely! Isn’t it about time!
Till next time! Keela