Tackling the Time Conundrum

As I write this – a couple of weeks ago – it was one month after my wife and I were just arriving in Rome for our 12-day group tour of Italy, and one week since I was getting prepared for a heart valve replacement. I remember looking ahead to both of these events, along with the wedding of our granddaughter in Ohio several weeks earlier. Now, all three have come and gone, with new things to anticipate. And our lives go on.

Time is a funny thing. Science tells us it’s constant, that a minute is always a minute long, that a day is always 24 hours, and a year is always 365 days – except for leap year, when it’s 366. But have you ever had the thought, “This has been the longest day!” and then heard someone say the same thing? Conversely, occasionally we say, “This day has flown by,” and another person responds, “It sure has!” So, is time really all that constant?

My purpose is not to debate or conjecture the space-time continuum. I prefer to stick with things I know about. But what do we have that’s more precious than time? We might say it’s money, but for most of us, there are always ways of making or generating more money, whether it’s working more or selling stuff. However, we can’t generate more time – and we can’t really save it. You can’t put it into a safety deposit box, or stash it into a self-storage unit. It comes and goes, whether we’re ready for it or not. Today turns into yesterday in a flash, and tomorrow transforms into today before we know it.

When I was young, I remember summer vacations seemed to go on forever. But as I got older, those idyllic breaks in the educational process started moving faster and faster, until the summer seemed little more than a eye’s blink. As they say, time takes wings when you’re having fun.

As an adult in the business world, I attended classes on “time management.” If there’s ever been anything less accurately named, I can’t think of it. Because we can’t “manage” time. We can only use it as it comes and try not to waste the moments before they flee.

Not that we must squeeze every possible ounce of activity and productivity out of every minute. In Italy, it was interesting to see many shops and even restaurants close during the midday to give workers a couple of hours to rest. The Spanish call it a “siesta.” As I’ve written before, we Americans can become enslaved to the tyranny of the urgent.

At the same time, the Scriptures admonish us to “redeem the time for the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16). In other words, missed opportunities won’t return to give us a second shot at them. Sometimes this means working in earnest to meet an important deadline; sometimes it means savoring the opportunity to enjoy the company of loved ones and friends, even when speaking words isn’t necessary.

As Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 reminds us, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot…a time to tear down and a time to build…a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain…a time to be silent and a time to speak….”

There’s one other time reference that immediately comes to mind when I consider the Scriptures. It’s when God gives us time to interact with others about eternal, spiritual truths. As Colossians 4:5 states, “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.” Is there a moment when you can encourage another believer in his or her spiritual pilgrimage? Do it now. Do you encounter a non-believer who seems receptive to talking about Jesus? Speak with them now. 

And if God presents you with a situation where you can demonstrate His love and kindness to someone else, don’t hesitate: “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers”(Galatians 6:10). Remember, time flies!

Carpe Diem! (While It’s Worth Seizing)

Several people I know are fond of using the term carpe diem – “seize the day.” This phrase apparently originated in 23 B.C. in the Odes, a collection of lyric poems written in Latin by the poet Horace. More than 2,000 years later, there’s a lot to be said for “carpe diem.”

In one respect it means, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “enjoyment of the pleasures of the moment without concern for the future.” An old beer commercial referred to this as “grabbing the gusto.” Another way of looking at this aligns with the adage, “You only go around once.” In other words, take advantage of the present, because quickly it will be past. You won’t get a second shot at it.

"Tempus fugit," the Romans used to say: "Time flies."

This sounds simultaneously realistic and self-serving. Terms like “look out for No. 1” and “it’s all about me” too easily fit under the carpe diem umbrella. But when we consider the remainder of Horace’s “carpe diem” declaration, it becomes a bit clearer. He added, “quam minimum credula postero,” which means, “trusting as little as possible in the next day (or, the future).”

Today we would say something like, “when opportunity knocks, for goodness sake, answer the door!” Because tomorrow, most of us have learned to our regret, might be too late.

Interestingly, the Bible speaks much about this. For instance, King Solomon wrote, “So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad” (Ecclesiastes 8:15). This, combined with Isaiah 22:13 – “Let us eat and drink…for tomorrow we die!” – have formed the statement, “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” While these words originally were written in Hebrew, they clearly concur with Horace’s sentiments in Latin.

The idea of seizing the day has more of an industrious context in Proverbs 20:13 – “Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare.” The book of wisdom also applies this principle to the area of generosity: “Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Come back later; I’ll give it tomorrow’ – when you now have it with you” (Proverbs 3:28).

Carpe diem seems to be a recurring theme in the New Testament as well. During His so-called Sermon on the Mount, Jesus observed, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?... Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” He wasn’t discouraging planning, but was exhorting His hearers to trust God for each day’s provision and not become consumed by the uncertain future, failing to appreciate the here and now in the process.

The apostle Paul also stressed seizing opportunities when they present themselves. “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is” (Ephesians 5:15-16). The days are “evil,” he was saying, not that they are inherently sinful but rather because if we waste time and squander opportunities, the time passes quickly and can’t be retrieved. Unlike money, we can’t “save” time in a chronological bank somewhere.

So in one sense, “carpe diem” could be understood to mean since we only have today, and tomorrow isn’t guaranteed, let’s indulge ourselves as much as possible. In other words, become hedonists. In another sense, however, “seizing the day” can inspire us to become good stewards of the time set before us, not only attending to our own needs and interests, but also looking for opportunities to be of service to others – especially God.

If there were such a thing as a time bank, one approach is to continually make withdrawals from our accounts. The other is to make regular deposits that earn dividends long into the future. As another translation of Ephesians 5:16 states, we can’t conserve time as a commodity, but we can be “redeeming the time.”

Enjoy the moment, to be sure. Have fun and delight in a new day of life. But if you have an opportunity to carry out an act of kindness, do it now. Don’t delay. If there’s an encouraging word you can offer, don't fail to express it now. Don’t procrastinate when it’s within your power to perform good for someone in some way. Tomorrow might be too late.

The Time of Your Life

We sometimes hear people exclaim, “I’m having the time of my life!” I’ve probably said that myself a time or two, but what does it really mean?

Figuratively it refers to having much enjoyment, maybe more than we can ever remember. But when have you heard someone say, “I’m not having the time of my life”? In reality, like it or not, “the time of our life” is now, this very moment. What happened even one second ago is already locked into the past, and we can’t live in the future – until it arrives in the present, at which time it ceases to be the future, strangely enough.

Not to get too philosophical, but time is important to all of us. And as we get older, we learn to value time even more since there’s more of it behind us and less of it ahead of us in this life. When we were children, time seemed to move at a snail’s pace, especially when awaiting a special event, like summer vacation or Christmas. Now it seems to pass at racetrack speed.

In the newspaper business, I found time often defined by deadlines: getting articles written, photos taken and pages designed on time for going to press. Time literally was money, with presses idling and well-paid pressmen poised to print the publication. So we all felt the pressure of time.

When I moved into the business world I was introduced to “time management,” which is a misnomer. We can’t manage time any more than we can manage the wind. Unlike saving money or storing food for a future emergency, time can’t be set aside for later consumption. Time comes and goes with relentless precision, one second, one minute, one hour at a time.

The Bible says there is a time for
everything.  Our challenge is to know
which time is right.

Although we can’t control or slow time’s passage, we can determine how our time is utilized. We can set priorities, determining which things must be done and distinguishing those from other things that might be nice to do, but aren’t essential. As Oswald Chambers would say, conceding “good is the enemy of the best.” Or distinguishing the important from the tyrannical urgent.

In our leisure hours we can read thought-provoking books, play challenging games, and engage in stimulating conversations. Or we can fritter away minutes and hours watching meaningless TV programming or listen to continual radio talk show chatter, our minds becoming sponges for media clutter. We can pursue a productive hobby, participate in regular exercise, and nurture our spiritual life. Or we can squander time by eating and drinking more than we need, sleeping more than we should, spending more than we ought, and procrastinating like champions.

We also can “manage time” by cherishing opportunities we have with loved ones, recognizing those can’t be reclaimed at some later date. I suspect when beloved friends and family members pass away, a part of our grieving is regret over “wouldas, shouldas and couldas” forever lost.

God, who created time, speaks of it a lot in the Scriptures. Psalm 90:12, for example, suggests we ask God to “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” If you knew today – or this week – were your last, would you continue with your plans for this day?

Ecclesiastes 3:1 declares, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” Many of the things we purpose to do, those activities we spend much time planning, are good. But when’s the best time for pursuing them? And when should we stop doing some of the things that have been taking up too much of our time?

And Ephesians 5:16 speaks of “making the most of your time (redeeming it), because the days are evil.” Time, as they say, has a stealthy habit of slipping away when we’re not paying attention. Then we wish wistfully, “If only I had more time.”

Even in a clock, watch or calendar shop, we can’t purchase or acquire more time. But we can “manage” it by appreciating the time we have and utilizing it, better yet – investing it – in ways that will pay dividends both immediate and long-term.

We’re still early in the new year. It would be great if instead of bemoaning at year end, “Where has the time gone?” we could smile and think, “I know exactly where the time has gone. And I believe it’s been well-spent.” It’s good to stop and smell the roses, as long as we don’t become consumed by the weeds.