The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways … Proverbs
14
The other day I was wandering around the internet, aimlessly
flitting from one site to another. My wife asked me what I was doing and I told
her, “I’m killing time.”
It’s a funny saying, isn’t it? “Killing time.”
I have finally gotten to that age where I am more aware of
my body than usual. Every now and then I reach to grab something and there is a
twinge in my shoulder that was never there before. I wonder whether it is
muscle ache or joint pain and, frankly, can’t tell. I’d have to be more in tune
with my body, and that would take paying attention – something for which I
haven’t got time!
I’m coming to realize that it isn’t time I’m killing as much
as time is killing me! As I approach the Golden Years (at the pace of a sloth
on speed), I find myself wondering how it is this “gold” has gotten itself wrapped
in a crust of rust!
That’s one of the problems with a relatively sedentary life-style.
I’d like to think I am an active sort, but maybe flipping the channels with a
remote or wandering the world via the World Wide Web isn’t as active as it
sounds. Flipping is a word we hear in gymnastics, but I’m not sure what I do
qualifies as a gymnastic maneuver. I would also venture to state that logging
onto the internet is less physical than logging a forest, so maybe I need to
consider a change in life-style.
This idea of time killing us is nothing new, of course. The
Greek word for time is Chronos, named for a nasty minor deity who was best
known for eating his own children. He is depicted by artists as a ravenous old
coot whose appetite is never satiated – always consuming, but never satisfied.
That’s a scary-good picture of time, if you ask me.
There is another Greek word – a better word – for time:
Kairos. This is sometimes called “God’s time.” This is time as an opportunity,
a gift; time with a purpose. This kind of time does not steal life, but gives
life. It is the sort of time Solomon referred to when he wrote: To everything
there is a time and a season – a time to laugh, a time to mourn; a time to be
born, a time to die; a time to speak, a time for silence, and so forth.
If we look at time this way, we find the questions we ask tend
to change. Instead of asking what time it is, we ask what this time is for. How
should I use this time that God has given me? Instead of crying, “Good God,
morning,” when we awake, we shake off our sleep and declare, “Good morning,
God!”
What I have discovered is that it isn’t time that needs to
change, but my attitude toward time. Instead of grousing about where time has
gone, I look to see how best to use the time I’ve got, and at the end of the
day, admire the things I’ve accomplished, or how much less there is to do next
time I get started.
That’s quite a difference, isn’t it?
Solomon said, “The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought
to their ways,” and I suppose one of the things he had in that beautiful mind
of his was the idea that if we are wise, and if we are prudent, we will give
thought to not just what we say and do, but to how we use our time.
When that computer of mine isn’t behaving properly, I find I
sometimes have to reboot it; turn it off, unplug it, remove the battery, and
after a minute, put it all back together, start it up, and it’s good as new.
Maybe we need to do that with our lives, too; unplug and reboot.
It may not remove the arthritis and muscle strain one
acquires with age, but it could well remove the twinge of guilt that arises
when we find ourselves killing time instead of redeeming it for the sake of the
kingdom. That could create in us a beautiful mind in no time at all, and
wouldn’t that be a pleasant thing in this, our valley?