Sacred Six Focus: Integrity
“So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom” Psalm 90:12.
I just celebrated a birthday. My Facebook timeline became inundated with myriad well wishes from family, friends and acquaintances from various stops on my journey. What a precious gift to read a name, visualize a face and recall wonderful memories of shared experiences!
I began to think about time and what we do with this commodity. We MARK and MEASURE time; we calculate seconds, minutes, hours, days… It is hard for me to believe I am into my 7th decade on earth – until I look in the mirror! We MISUSE time by focusing on the trivial and frivolous. We MANAGE time in an attempt to MAXIMIZE our effectiveness as we strive toward some goal we’ve chosen. We MAKE time, as in “I really made good time driving to Gatlinburg.”
What we cannot do is MANUFACTURE time. Once it slips through our fingers we cannot retrieve or replace it. If Cher couldn’t turn back time, what hope do I have to do so – at least until I am able to travel at, and beyond, the speed of light.
The last several weeks I am more convinced that we do not know how many more opportunities remain in this life: to make that contact, to express how we feel and what we mean to one another, to give that affirmation, to offer that apology and ask for forgiveness, to forgive another freely, to lift that burden, and to offer our ears, shoulder and heart to one in need.
I did mention we cannot retrieve or replace time. However, we can REDEEM it.
“The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.” – Rabindranath Tagore
-Chaplain Harry Mullins