Time


"Time is a monster that cannot be reasoned with. It responds like a snail to our impatience, then it races like a gazelle when you can't catch a breath." — "Simon Birch" (1998)

This week we begin our Stewardship campaign — T3 (Time, Treasure, Talent) — with a look at time, which is the most valuable asset we all have. That's why it comes first. Time is the only thing they're not making more of.

It makes sense when you consider how most of us spend our time. If you look at how we spend our days, those precious seconds, minutes, and hours we have, you will see a reflection of what we value most — be it ourselves or others. Most of us don't like to think of it that way, but it's the truth.

I find it ironic that we looked at this message when we're in the midst of a work stoppage in the NBA. There are real issues behind it, but I won't get into that here. What is fascinating to me is that it looks more and more like the whole season might be lost. Sure, the owners and players will lose money, but what's going to be lost if the season disappears is much greater than material wealth. Much of the discussion recently has been about the time that will be lost to the players, time they will never get back.

I think about that when I think about my favorite time, the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers are an aging group that has been at or near the top of the sport the past four seasons. The window for winning a championship is so finite, it's hard to imagine how much longer they can stay at that level. Losing a whole year this season narrows that window to the point where you wonder if their moment has passed.

For average players nearing their 30s, which isn't old for life but is ancient for basketball, this work stoppage may derail their whole career. A fight over money and other issues may cost these players so much more than what they're fighting for.

That is one example where a group of people failed to appreciate the finite amount of time available to them. That's hardly the only example. Too often the human tendency is to value other pursuits over our time, but that's not how it should be. The challenge is to balance all the other needs and desires we have with the limited amount of our most precious resource, our time.

How will you use your time? How will you allocate your time to God? Those are the questions we all have to answer.

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