Sunday Morning Coffee: Time

Tempus fugit, so they say.  And now, it seems,  they were right all along. I just didn’t know it until about ten or more years ago.

I find that I’m thinking more about the fact that, at 70, I’ve lived a lot longer than I still have left to live  I’m not being morbid. I don’t look forward to death, because I really like my life 🙂  Even though I know the Lord, know that heaven is my final home, I’m really not in a rush to get there. At least, not right now.  Not just yet. I still need to finish my book!  Yes, it’s actually under way, but it’s slow going. So many other things need my time and attention, which is good because it’s  a sign that I’m still living an active and, I hope, a productive life.

Every now and then, I’m brought up short by the reality that my dad died when he was 70. My age.  It’s true that I’m in much better health than he was at this age, but it’s also true that time is taking its toll on my body. Creak, squeak, groan.                       .  Well, it’s not really that bad ALL the time, but there are days. . . .

But this post isn’t about the state of my old bones.  It’s about  realizing, maybe a  little too late, how valuable every single minute is.  God has them measured.  He knows exactly how many I have left.  He knows how I’ve used the ones already gone. He knows about minutes wasted, minutes used well,  minutes that didn’t bring honor to Him, minutes that did.

Mind you, there is nothing wrong with rest and relaxation. There were years of my life, back when I was teaching school and still had my own four kids at home, that I didn’t get nearly enough rest. Pushed all day every day, accepted way more responsibilities than I should have. I was one of those people who felt guilty about saying NO when I needed to. Not any more.  Being overly busy can also be a waste of time.  When you’re doing too much,  you can’t do all of it well.

God is not bound by time as we are.  He doesn’t wear a watch, or carry a smart phone. He is from eternity past, eternity present, eternity future. That’s a concept quite a bit beyond my understanding.  We are so time-oriented that it’s hard to consider a place where there is no time at all.

We need to sleep a certain number of hours. We need to eat at regular intervals. We need to be at work, be at a doctor appointment, be on time for lunch with a friend.  We need to pay bills on time, take care of our taxes on time, be to church on time,  set a timer on the roast so it will be ready to eat when we get home.

Time matters so much here that it is impossible for us to understand a place where time doesn’t matter.

All that being said, I guess I do have to acknowledge that time and its swift passing really are important to me.  And heaven becomes more real as the days tick by at the speed of light. I admit it–sometimes I grow homesick for heaven.

This has been a ramble.  I hope you don’t mind. Sometimes I like to just let the words come as they may.