Time

Having stayed up late to watch an intense movie about a young man's personal struggle with cancer and the impact on family dynamics and relationships, this morning I had a personal struggle with the alarm function on my IPhone.  While it was faithful in its charge to wake me, I chose to discharge its warning and roll over for a few more minutes (give or take an hour or two).

I would say that I ran out of time this morning and was unable to complete my blog as per usual.  However, the truth is, one cannot run out of time, time just keeps running at its normal pace regardless of what we choose to do.  As Geoffrey Chaucer once wrote, "Time and tide wait for no man."  We cannot truly run out of time, save time, waste time or even use time.  Time simply marks the forward movement between our birth and death.

Whether we seize the day (carpe diem) serving God or seize a rod and fish for "dem carp," time moves forward unfettered.  We don't run out of time, time runs on with or without our conscious or productive input.

Each day, each week, each month and year measures the same amount of time that it did yesterday, last week, last month or last year.  We can't save time, use time, share time or impact it to any degree.  As Jesus said, "Who of you can add a single hour to your life?" (Lk 12:25).  We simply do not have any power over time.  Time and tide wait for no man, they just keep moving regardless of what we do.

Trying to save time, share time, use time, spend time, etc. are useless pursuits.  We can merely operate within the scope of time.  We can be active or inactive, productive or non-productive, making progress or stuck, but we cannot manipulate time.  What we can do is be good stewards of our talents, abilities and possessions in the time we are given to operate, which is only one of three time blocks of which we have knowledge: Past, Present and Future.  

The only one of those three blocks of time in which we can operate is the present, now, today, diem.   Jesus informs us in John 9:4, "As long as it is day (present), we must do the works of him who sent me.  Night (future) is coming when no one can work."  Do what you can now for there is no guarantee of a tomorrow in which to accomplish what you could have or should have done today.  Jus' Say'n.