Time is what we want most, but we use worst. – William Penn
As the start of another school year looms large on the horizon I inevitably start to think about new beginnings. For so many of us the fall continues to represent this. Even if we ourselves have not had to jump through the back to schools hoops for decades perhaps the cadence of an academic schedule became a part of us so early on it never left, or we live it again and again through our children, but for whatever reason this season is often one of new starts, new schedules and even new selves.
So let me take advantage of this calm before the storm as summer fades and fall has yet to claim every free moment of my time with this meeting and that committee strategy and decide what it is I want to accomplish. Where it is I think my energy should be focused, what it is needs my talents, how it is I will allocate that most precious and irreplaceable resource – time.
When my husband and I were building our house everyday seemed to bring a new bill. It was like our budget was a fairy tale and we were fools for having thought it mattered. Our contractor would say, as we signed off on some new expense, “it’s only money, you’ll make more.” These words scared us as we tried so hard to keep our mortgage payments as low as possible, but in a way he was right. We would end up making more money. But what we can never make more of is time. Now don’t get me wrong, that does not mean we are not to be responsible stewards of our financial resources – we are clearly called to this kind of restraint and accountability. I am only pointing that time is a finite thing and we only have so much. We are in fact incapable of making one more moment than that which we have been given from the start.
For me that means I want so much to use it well, wisely. We all do, right? But we get caught up so easily in the myriad ways we can waste it. Just like money, we are tempted every day, nearly every minute, with the things that beckon us to spend it on what really doesn’t matter in the end – tv, those endless Facebook quizzes (there is actually one that attempts to determine which defunct 90s soda you are most like!), and other things that are fun, entertaining and at times restorative but in the end not productive.
So I am resolving (perhaps I am mixing this season up with New Years!) to take philosophy we learn from Scripture that is taught so well in the Lazarus at the Gate study to live simply and give generously with our money and applying it to my time. I want to commit to spend it more wisely on that which will make an impact on the world for justice and give it generously in support of these things. I’m not swearing off tv or Facebook quizzes (I do so need to know which Disney sidekick I am) but I maybe someday I will get to that point. For today, entering this new season, I mean to be at least a little wiser, spend less on those things that don’t matter and more on those that do.
We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right. – Nelson Mandela
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