American life is said to be becoming increasingly frenetic. There would be no complaint about that express energy if it accomplished personal constructive purpose – equated with the time factor. That is to say, that if that pace and activity contributed to better persons and relationships, even accomplishments, one would find ways to advance the practice of speed. It is suggested that we have speeded everything up but at the expense of genuine accomplishment as God would find in his value orientation. There is a safe speed to drive, but we must go faster. We even walk faster, except during vacations. Media have speeded up commercial speech, sometimes with poor diction, but increasing time for more commercials. There is a good schedule to follow, but we must jam it to the point of cancellation of one for another. There is a humaneness of time in the consuming of a meal, but we must have fast food. The sermon must be short, the music must be fast, and the events of the day seem important by their number of timed-in experiences. A fellow called for an appointment with me today. Arriving he made it clear he did not have much time. But, he made the appointment. He seemed to discover that I was prepared to give him whatever time he needed. All of this piling up of life comes at a cost we should not have to pay for the good life. Life has rhythm to it and in it. For some it is a bit faster or slower than others, but we should recognize range and adapt for each other. The divides are manageable for all, and should be respected. We short ourselves in not finding and keeping our own patterns. Families are confrontational over any indisposition of time. We can’t seem to get on as we should with each other. We say we don’t want to be bored – and we don’t. We also have difficulty with variety, partly designed to avoid boredom. Bosses are decreasing the amount of time that a procedure may be performed. Persons are accosted with overload even in reporting daily news. Much of this relates to the insights of Solomon. When he finally tried going up a number of roads he ended in a sensible despair: All is vanity. Each generation faces the issue. In 1900 a favorite phrase of women related to the needs of their lives was: Find time to smell the roses. They made banners with the motto and carried them in parades. Will persons make this excuse to be lazy? Of course they will. We don’t design life by the lazy, the liar, or the dissolute, but by the golden mean. That balance will give me some of what I need to improve my life and performance. I am not what I was, but I am not yet where I want to be – and ought to be. It is a part of constructive humility for our lives.
Jesus was serious, and listeners knew it, but he was quite in control of his use of time, sometimes challenged about the matter. He informed the disciples that there were twelve hours in the day, in the understanding there was sufficient time to do everything one is supposed to do. He made the statement, and seemed to be rather casual at the time that Lazarus died. The disciples thought it well that Lazarus was getting his rest. Jesus clarified his meaning of sleep in this instance – Lazarus was dead. Jesus arrived four days later, during exhibitions of grief. The sisters of Lazarus even implied that Jesus may have been a bit casual in that if he were present he would likely have healed Lazarus. He was presumed to have been tardy to the scene. We learn something in the raising of Lazarus. Among the lessons is that God is not going to interpret time in the sense of mankind’s perception. He sustains that perception to us in that our prayers are almost always delayed in our perceptions. Added to the point is that he knows our needs before we have expressed them so the matter expands with the added information that the creator of time is not subject to it. Quite the reverse is true. Our secret is to wait on him and permit his pace. God is not in a hurry. His context is ever presence. His moment is always now. We live in the box of time. That box is God’s creation to which we are not limited, with faith that goes outside the time box.
All persons function inside nature’s big box, with the humanist accepting time and nature as givens by which we live. The Christian adds faith as it is identified in Scripture and touched with the assurances of Jesus Christ. In that visit of Christ from eternity to time, God touched us in reality for faith that makes time for what it is and eternity for what it is. We creatures of time are stymied, even confused, in trying to work in time and think in the term, eternity. God also makes clear that faith, given its specific meaning, is the lifeline for mankind to live on the tiny island of time in the sea of eternity. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020