Hello everyone!
Whoa, it’s already Advent! With all that is going on these days, it sure is easy to completely lose track of time! But then, that is pretty common for a lot of us, isn’t it? It’s like the parents who wonder how their kids grew up so fast, or the employee who wonders how their holidays finished so quickly, or the Marvel movie fan who wonders how watching a 2.5 hour long movie seems like 12 minutes.
We get caught up in whatever we’re getting caught up in, and time just blows by. At the time though, we feel like what we’re doing is important, and don’t get me wrong, it totally could be. But at the same time, I often here a lot of regrets from people about how much time they had wasted doing things they thought were important.
I know, it’s hard to draw the line on what is important and not, or what is important now but not that important in the long run, or what seems to deserve your emotional attention now or what really doesn’t matter as much as you’d think. It’s hard to not get caught up in things that are put on the forefront of your mind, taking you to the point where you almost can’t think of anything else. It’s hard to draw those boundaries for self care when your to-do lists seems so long.
Why yes, I do think I’m talking about myself.
I know I’m not the greatest at time management, especially when it comes to doing stuff for me. And truthfully, I don’t think I’ll ever get that much better. But I do think it’s important to recognise the issue within myself and maybe hopefully perhaps possibly I’ll move in that general direction as time goes on.
I just hope that time comes sooner than later.
Here are the readings for next week:
Jeremiah 33:14-16
Psalm 25:1-10
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Luke 21:25-36
Well we’re back in Year C now of the Revised Common Lectionary and while Advent is the time we look forward to Jesus’ birth, here we have Jesus talking about the end of the world. And honestly, it’s kind of a bummer.
But what caught me as I read this passage is where Jesus gives the warning “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with… the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap… Be alert at all times.” (parts of vs 34-36)
This got me thinking about the stuff I was saying up there about time management and boundaries and all that. We might not be talking about the end of the world, but honestly we don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Actually, I don’t even know what will happen 10 minutes from now as really things keep sneaking up and surprising the heck out of me.
The point is, be aware of the time you have is limited and try to discern if that time is being spent worrying about thing that can worry about themselves or stressing over things that needn’t be stressed over, or just thinking (or grumbling) about thing that really don’t deserve the “free rent” in your brain. Or, is your time being spent living in hope in God’s promises, faith that God will carry them through, and the love of right relationship and community? I know, it isn’t that easy to draw those lines, but I think I’ll head home now and give my kids a hug (or at least the ones that would actually let me do that still).
Our time is precious, and we have been given many blessings that could easily fill it up. Let’s focus on those joys and let the worrying worry for itself.
Thanks be to God! Have a great week, everyone!