Time

Lately, I have been thinking about time. What got me started was the change of seasons, my husband asking me when time “changes back”, and looking in the mirror. Changes there, too. Sometimes time moves fast and sometimes it is painfully slow in passing. Consider an elementary school year when you were a child. Depending on the teacher and classmates, it could go on forever. In college, I thought I would croak before I could get through economics. Have you ever waited for a loved one to come out of a surgery? Agonizing hours. What about the coming of Christmas, a wedding, a birthday or the last two months of pregnancy? Consider how fast your children grew or are growing up.

Yep. You get it. We have heard the age-old epithets about time. “A stitch in time saves nine.” That is, hurry up and get it done! “Time flies when you’re having fun.” Enjoy every moment. Summer is always too short. “Time waits for no one.” Well, duh! “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” – Mother Teresa. Use each day wisely. Now there is some wisdom. I doubt she looked at a clock much.

I found some well-known and not-so-well-known opinions about time:

“It’s not the quantity but the quality of time that matters.” I don’t know who first said that. “Never leave till tomorrow that which you can do today” – Benjamin Franklin. “They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” – Andy Warhol. “Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.” – William Shakespeare.” “Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time,’ is like saying, ‘I don’t want to.’” – Lao Tzu “Time management is an oxymoron.  Time is beyond our control, and the clock keeps ticking regardless of how we lead our lives. Priority management is the answer to maximizing the time we have.” – John C. Maxwell

These last two grabbed me by the pants. Time is governed by nature or the Creator, if you will. The rising and setting sun measures a day; actually, the rotation of the earth on its axis. The cycle of the moon gives us thirteen segments of twenty-eight days each year. Natural years are measured by the days it takes the earth to revolve around the sun. Where did days of the week, hours in a day, minutes in an hour, seconds in a minute, and leap year come from? Us.

The measurement of time is a human construct. In our attempt to control and quantify time, we are now down to nanoseconds. Computer speed is measured in nanoseconds, but each nanosecond is longer than a picosecond, femtosecond, attosecond, or zeptosecond. REALLY? Wait a “second”. Never heard of those? (I thought I was doing well with chemistry: electrons, protons, neutrons and quarks.)

Time is beyond our control. Yet we seem more and more compelled to rule our days by the measurement of it. Making life all look linear is a big mistake. We tend to lose the depth and breadth to time. Otherwise, how does my first paragraph make sense though we know it is true? Here’s my question then. Do we have to measure time so intricately in order to be productive? Is this all about the human need for discipline? Certainly true, but it seems to be about the illusion of control. I don’t know what else, except maybe social conditioning.

Prioritizing how we spend our time is the critical matter when we look close. My friend says, “Show me your checkbook (or on-line accounts) and your calendar (or time spent on devices in a week). And I’ll know your priorities. I don’t agree that quality is more important than quantity. It isn’t that simple. Both are essential. Meaningful conversation comes when we are willing to dig deep into mind and heart and share. Shallow words and surface conversations are time wasters, but these fit better into our schedule. Obsession with video games and internet surfing cheapen the value of time. Any kind of obsession is damaging to the depth of enriching our relationship. Time truly engaged in the lived of those we are privileged to love, in doing good for others, or in meditating on the words of our Father and His Son honors the value of time. Appreciation of life and beauty brings depth to every moment. Watch a sunset happen from beginning to end.

What gives depth and breadth to your time? We can’t make any more of it. If you think you don’t have time for something, it just isn’t a priority for you. Why not? What is really the most important way to spend your time?