When I was in High School my science teacher had a sign under the wall clock. It read: TIME WILL PASS, WILL YOU?
I can not begin to tell you how many times when I was looking to see if class was over that the only thing I could see was that sign. The phrase has stayed with me all these years. I think of it when I am anxious for some event to happen or when I feel like time is standing still. " It is all about perspective" to quote Fr. Charlie.
Now I live in Arizona on the border of Nevada. Nevada honors daylight savings time and we do not. So time can be confusing. I travel twenty minutes to church but the clock shows that I either gain or lose an hour in those twenty minutes depending on which way I am traveling. I keep a clock set to Nevada time in my house. It makes it easier for me, except when I look at it and think that is Arizona time.
My prayer partner lives in a different time zone all together and every year, twice a year we do the dance when the time change occurs. We never can get it right. We are math challenged anyway. We have depended on our respective spouses to tell us when we should be praying in our time zones. They have tried to explain it to us, but we only want the answer. We do not want to see their work. The first couple of days we are still getting organized and every time we pray early or late and apologize to each other. By then end of the first week we are back on course and all new alarms are in working order. Now, of course, you can use your smartphone to tell you what time it is anywhere in the world. Not that that has helped either of us!
Sometimes I become confused about what time zone I live in. Sometimes I become confused about which world I live in. I forget that I am only here for a little while and that my true home is heaven. I should not concern myself with manmade things. My focus should be on God. But like the time change and living on the border I do not always look at the right clock.
I spend my time being concerned about the conversations swirling around me before Mass. My focus is gone. I am more concerned with the speck in another's eye than the plank in mine. I spend time in laziness and procrastination.
God tells us that we know not the hour or the day and that death will come like a thief in the night. That is the only time we should be concerned about. Have I used my time and talents wisely? Will I be able to give a good accounting?
I think of how Michael and I spent our last months together. We knew that his time was coming to an end on this earth and we were trying our hardest to make the most of it. I believe that when I am asked to give an accounting of my time, that those months are at the top of my list of time that I am most proud. It was not squandered. I did not procrastinate. I held every moment dear.
Lord,
So many times in the past I have squander time.
I have forgotten that time is a gift.
Help me to spend my time as you would have me spend it.
Help me to use my time to become the person that you want me to be.
Yes Lord,
Time will pass,
Help me to pass also.
~Cindy
"He who bears his sufferings with patience for God's sake, will soon arrive at high perfection. He will be master of the world and will already have one foot in the other world.
