The Times

Times tables.  It’s that time of year.  Back to school time.  “It’s time to get up” kiddos.  I get a smidgen of anxiety just thinking about it and I’m old, by comparison.

Time has a whole slew of meanings.  One of my favorites is from Esther 4:14, “for such a time as this.”  This saying speaks to destiny.  Esther came out of some sad circumstances into some favorable ones because time was fulfilled for her.  We all look forward to time-fulfilled.

Then there’s marking time, “a sign of the times.”  I remember marking time back in our high school’s military-type marching band.  Marking time was marching while standing still.

Not moving forward seems a bit scary to us go-getters.  But we all have to mark time from time to time.  We exclaim, “it’s about time,” when we finally get the signal to move.

It has been said that “time is the great equalizer.”  You and I have been given the same number of hours in a day as the greatest and the least among us.

The elite, the disadvantaged, the youngest and the oldest, the world over, have the same amount of time to spend, each day.  We are all equal in this one thing, time.

Race, ethnicity, success, failure, riches, poverty, intelligent or dumb-as-a-door-nail, are all irrelevant to how many hours are in our day.  We’re all on the same budget, as to the spending of time.  We all have the same parameters, the same rough outline.

“The times, they are a changing.”  Will these be “good times?”  Do you “have the time?”  How much control do we have over time?  We all know that “time flies.”

Of course, we can carpe diem, seize the day.  Or for you, is there “so much to do, so little time?”  Then again, we can “take no thought for tomorrow” (Matthew 6:34).

How much do you let others control your time?  What do you do if “time and again,” “they won’t give you the time of day?”

“What time is it,” for you?  Do you focus entirely on the future, which is subject to change?  Tomorrow is where anxiety lives?  What if?  I have a saying posted on my office telephone, to remind me to stay present, “next week has been exhausting.”

Or is it the past, where you spend most of your time?  From a television show, Imposters, I once heard something like this: “your past can’t hurt you now.  You already lived it.  Just go back for an occasional visit.” 

To mix Beatles song lyrics into one bit of contemporary psychobabble: “don’t let the shadow of yesterday prevent you from following the sun, today.”  Take some comfort in knowing, certain things are timeless, like beauty, art, music, kindness, exercise, words, faith, hope, charity….  Think on these things.

It’s roll-call time.  Raise your hand and say “present,” when your name is called.  Otherwise it will be assumed that you’re absent.  “Time and again” I have to remind myself to live in the present, another word for a gift.

No matter where you spend most of your time: in the past, the present or the future, spend it positively, wisely, generously, and with a thank you on your lips, because “time is money.”

Thank you for reading this edition of The Times and remember that life is not tied to a timeline, and it’s never ever too late.