Do you know what time it is?
After all these years, these time change weekends are still disorienting for me. I can recite "spring forward, fall back" but still have to talk myself through the process: It's 9pm, so that means I should change the clock to 8pm, right? I think? ... unless this device updates automatically ... or unless someone else already changed it ... and what if someone else comes along after me? ... oh no!!!
It's funny that we even talk about "time change" because we really can't do that -- we just change the way we measure it. Actual time progresses incrementally, steadily, predictably, fixed by the Father (Acts 1:7). The regularity of it is almost hypnotizing, and it's easy to live as if one day will follow another into the far distant future.
Occasionally God in his mercy sends us reminders that there is another reality, a REAL reality, beyond this lulling lazy river of time. Maybe it is the death of someone we love, or a serious diagnosis, or the suddenly not-funny recognition of how many candles are on the cake. When those reminders come, how does that change the way we view the time we have remaining?
For many of us, that refocused view of time means reviewing our life experiences, sifting through our stories to "mine" for the treasures -- experiences, skills, knowledge, relationships -- that should be given back to the Giver for his glory. We learn how to use our past, filtered through the decisions of the present, to maximize our future.
We can't really change time, but we can choose to use it well. If you continue to receive the gift of time, what are YOU going to do with this weekend, this year, this life?
