October 6, 2021
It’s a Funny Thing, Time: A Prayer
O Lord, maybe it was celebrating being an ordained pastor for
50 years
that got me to thinking,
thinking about time,
thinking about what
a funny thing
time is;
50 years to go,
forever;
50 years ago,
yesterday;
in the beginning,
50 years in a career
more than enough;
toward the end,
50 years
not nearly enough;
50 years,
half a century,
50 years
sounds better,
not so ancient;
or maybe it was three recent birthdays;
suddenly,
seventeen,
fifteen
twelve;
born
day before yesterday,
off to college
day after tomorrow;
little girls
no longer little,
little boy,
now big boy,
but to us
still little;
or maybe it was
suddenly
January become October soon to be January again
(Where did the year go?);
in high school
Monday meant Friday
an eternity away;
now at 75,
Monday
becomes Friday
before I can turn around
(the older you get the faster it goes,
someone once warned me).
But whatever the reason,
I got to thinking about
time,
what a funny thing
time is.
And it is a funny thing, Lord, because it can
go fast,
go slow,
stand still;
you can
spend it,
save it,
spare it,
share it,
steal it, even
seal it
(in a capsule);
it can be
kept,
killed,
watched,
wasted,
lost;
it can be on our side or be our enemy;
it can slip through our fingers while we have it
on our hands;
it can be called (time out), put (time in),
unless we’re in time out;
it flies,
if we’re having fun;
it drags,
if we’re bored to tears;
it marches (on),
waits for no man… or woman;
never enough,
more than enough,
always enough
(to do what we really want to do),
because
we can
make time,
take time,
create time;
so, all the time in the world
to have the time of our lives, until
suddenly
no time,
no time left,
no time at all,
time run out,
give anything
for just a little more time,
because
time,
like an ever-rolling stream,
bearing another one
away.
O Lord, for one reason or another I have been thinking about
time,
the time
I have, we each of us have (left),
that maybe
it’s time
we wake up,
realize that
now is the time
to watch a bumblebee tiptoe
in and out of a hibiscus bloom,
emerging at last as happy as a bee can be;
or
to call
a friend
who needs us to
be a friend;
or
to listen to a child go on and on until we can barely go on; or
to take a moment
to be with
someone we cherish;
or
to serve the stranger, love the enemy, be Christ to another.
And that’s
pretty much
my prayer,
that maybe it’s
about time
we get
serious
about time,
what a
funny
thing
time is.
And we pray, O Lord, for all who are having a hard time,
those who are battling illness, or grieving, or struggling
to find a way, or are suffering with depression,
or are hungry, or far from home.
Be with them,
and in your love
work a new kind of time for them,
a time of healing and strength and hope.
O Lord, one more funny thing about time, and that is
when we take the time
to thank you for our time,
the time we have had,
we realize that
there is not enough time
to thank you for
the time
we have had.
Amen.