TIME

Time
Where does it go?
I think I have written a day or two ago and it's more than a week.
Time . . . it moves way too fast.
I cannot catch it.
I cannot put it in a jar and place a lid on it for future use.

Time is illusive.
I want to grab it and hold onto it and dole it out in tiny increments but the clock keeps ticking . . . forward.
I can look back and grab a memory of the past.
I can grab a moment and hold it tight, trying not to let it go.
But memories and moments become the past in less time than it takes to say the words.
Time moves forward whether I am ready to move with it or not.
I can let it go . . . let the milliseconds tick by . . . watch the world spin through space . . . which takes time.
I can linger quietly and watch time fly.
Sometimes that is soothing to the soul.
Sometimes it is frightening.
Time marches on . . .
As I take one well chosen step at a time.

I can miss-step, hold a step, skip a step, step up to the plate, step forward, step back . . . but . . . no matter how I step . . . time still marches on.

The best I can do is take time . . .
savor time . . .
stretch time . . .
linger in time . . .
according to my own little time-clock in my heart.
It may put me way behind the times . . .
or make me lag in time . . .
or run me out of time . . .
but then, it's my time to take . . .  to choose.
It's my time to use or abuse . . . or loose.

So what?
Time is what we make of it.
If I lose time,
make time,
use up time
or refuse to step in time . . .
is it my time to do with as I choose?
Sometimes.
It depends if someone else hires me to use time the way they choose.
I must ask myself if I have 'redeemed' the time properly.

More often than not,
I have plenty of time to share with others,
give to others,
give to myself and use time wisely.
But, that means I must make myself aware of time
 and bide my time
 and use my time with good intention.
That means that some time is not my own.
Whose time is it anyway?
Who made time?

God, our Creator, made time for us  . . .
to enjoy,
 use,
fill,
empty out,
give,
receive,
share,
covet . . . as we choose.
It's our choice.
Each day I make the choice.
How much time do I take to linger a littler longer in my quiet space talking . . .
and sometimes listening . . . to God?
Is it a good time or a waste of time or a fulfilling time?
Almost always it is a very pleasant time,
a fulfilling time,
an enriching, in-reach time.

As it says in Ecclesiastes:
 (2:1-8)There is a time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill and a time to heal;
 A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
 A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
 A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate;
A time for war and a time for peace.

(10) I have seen the task which God has given the generations with which to occupy themselves.
 He [God] has made everything appropriate in its time.
 He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that mankind will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.
I know there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one's lifetime; moreover, that all who eat and drink see good in all their labor.
It is the gift of God.
(20)All go to the same place.
 All came from the dust and all return to the dust.

One cannot find a better explanation for time.
Now to use it well.