The Faster I Go, The Behinder I Get!

Good Wednesday morning to one and all on this August 13, 2008. Seems like it was only yesterday that we were all concerned about Y2K and how everything was supposed to fall apart in the year 2000. Now we are into the 8th year since all the books predicted gloom and doom, and while I can’t say things have gotten better in the world, we are still here doing our thing, hopefully doing so with a desire to serve God and others. I recently watched a series of BBC documentaries on the subject of time and how it functions in our world. In many respects we really are slaves to the clock. Hurry here, hurry there, and it’s always to meet this schedule or that, and many of us stay in a constant tizzy fearing we will be late. We know that time serves many useful purposes, but it can become a huge stress factor in our lives.

I am one of those people who think that being on time is extremely important, even being on time to things that are not in the least important. I do not like to be late. Back in the day when I traveled a lot I used to have a phobia about being late for the conference or meeting I was attending. I often actually lost sleep over it. I typically always made it before start time but others showed up late and never even seemed to be bothered. I was angry at them for being late but somewhat envious over their carefree attitude. Why does being late bother me? It’s one of those things that I picked up along the way but since I have no idea where or when it happened, I suppose at this late date I’ll just have to live with it.

In picking this up I also came to the idea that being on time is a way of showing respect. I know a number of people who are habitually late for most every appointment they make. Being on time is not on their radar screen. I’m also certain that, knowing many of these folks well, they do not see being on time as a sign of respect because they would never be disrespectful intentionally. They just cannot make it on time. Whatever caused me to be the way I am obviously did not happen to them. As a backdrop to all of this there are great debates that go on and on by scientists on the subject of time. Doing only casual research on the subject yields literally thousands of articles, research papers, and scientific documents devoted to ‘time’.

We do know it has something to do with marking motion of some type. I love this particular definition: A non-spatial continuum in which events occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past through the present to the future. Hey, it was just the one on the top of the list! For those who believe in God, we know He put into our created universe the function of time. As some have said, time, like God, is self-evident. We are able to mark or measure change from one second to the next or from decades before to decades after. God gave time so we could mark progress and evaluate our living in terms of what we do with all that He has provided to us. Being on time for doing wrong is still doing wrong. Being late without good reason for something God has called you to do would be a lack of respect for Him. And, so it goes. I’m working on trying not to feel so badly towards the habitually late person and maybe the rest of the world could help me out by being a little more punctual, or at least, that’s the way I see it. I do know this, that if you would take a time out right now to be thankful to God, it will help you to have a better day! Amen. ….More later.