Time is
a killer. We are all withering away and, yet, we don’t value such a truth the
way it demands we value it. And, still, if we do value it as we should we still
have regrets.
We had 179 hours
with our stillborn son’s body, yet it wasn’t enough. It never could be. But
there is also the fact that what we did in those precious few hours we had with
him we may only have repeated again and again because he was lifeless.
I contend that
making the most of no time at all – not a literal schema – is simply about
doing just that. It’s about seeing how the time slips away, irrevocably and
irretrievably.
And what do we have
left once that’s all gone?
The memories we have
made, the trinkets kept, the sadness we retain which is surely a gift of God that
makes us feel in ways to heal, and the fact we shared this experience.
As consumers of
grace, we have taken this gift of both Nathanael’s little body and the time we
had. We had it. We took it and had no problem making the most of it.
***
We think we have
time but we have no time at all.
Life changes in a
split second, even though it took us decades for the abruptness to betray our
attentions. Then life is a steep and steely lesson. We will all be caught out
these ways at least once in our lives.
But, now, making the
most of no time at all is not as easy as we think it will be.
Not all of our
future problems can we foresee like the finiteness of the time we had with
Nathanael. We may get our ideas of wise use of time and make a poor judgment,
deploying our efforts in activities we think are worthy, but which aren’t, as
is revealed later.
But there is not
much use in regret, though regret comes as a function of a sad truth.
***
Making most of no time
at all. What are we to do?
Discerning wisely
the selection and use of time, we remind ourselves that we are making an
eternal choice.
Time is the gift of
God’s grace for experience, and experience is God’s grace in time: an eternal
gift.
Time is no spouse of
regret, yet, if we lack diligence, our time comes to be united with regret
eternally.
Time is the brother
of experience. Such siblings take good account for one another.
Spending time with
one eye on the possibility for regret is fixing the other eye on making the
most of the present.
© 2015 S. J. Wickham.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.