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From the Desktop of the Pastor – Week of the 6th Sunday after the Epiphany

Hi everyone,

Yes, the rumours are true, it was my birthday yesterday. And as I sit here and stare middle-age in the face, I can’t help but look back and reminisce of the days of old (which seem to be accumulating more and more as more and more days go by… math is funny that way). And as I look back and remember the ways that my life has taken different turns and what events helped to shape me, I try (rather unsuccessfully) to relay those lessons to our children.

One such lesson that I tried to bestow upon them (yesterday, actually), was something that I heard from a movie or something (oddly enough, I can’t remember the source so unfortunately I can’t give it credit, but it for sure wasn’t from me). It was a quote that went something along the lines of “time is the real currency in life.” See we were talking about money, and how everything we do revolves around it as though money is the ultimate currency. But the problem with that is that money is so fabricated in its value and it comes and goes quite fluidly in that if you lose some, you could easily gain it back, and if you gain some, you could easily lose it.

Time, however, comes and goes at a constant pace, and our time is limited. Once it is gone, it is gone. We cannot make up lost time. We cannot change how the past was spent. We cannot go back to yesterday and redo what we did in a way that might be better in hindsight. We just cannot. Well, not without a bonafide time machine, at least.

But we can learn from them. We can move forward as stronger, wiser, and better equipped for what might come. We can take the mistakes of the past and let them inform our decisions in the future. Time is the real currency because how it is used affects more than ourselves, but also those around us and those around those around us, and those around those around those around us (that was way harder to type than it would seem).

And I’ve learned that as we become more aware of how our time is spent, it seems like we naturally become better people. We relate to each other better, knowing that we don’t really have eternity together. We see the value of every second, and so we try to make the most of them to the best of our ability (mostly, at least).

Time is the ultimate currency, and will be until we actually do create some kind of time machine.

Here are the readings for next week:
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Psalm 119:1-8
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Matthew 5:21-37

I feel thankful that we are given instruction on how to use the currency of time in more productive and beneficial ways. I feel grateful that the scriptures we have are so full of wisdom that spans across the ages and cultures. I feel joyful knowing that we have a God that cares enough to be revealed in community and relationship, enough to show us how to do it right through example.

But of course, that doesn’t make it easy. In fact, it’ll make life look a lot harder when it is full of discipline. But the hope I see in it all is that we aren’t given this instruction for the sake of it. We aren’t asked to be a certain way just for kicks and giggles. We aren’t given the example of Jesus to make life worse and riddled with guilt.

Instead, we are given this instruction for our own sake. We are asked to be a certain way for the benefit of community. We are given the example of Jesus so we can tangibly see that it is worth it and it is good.

Again, we might fail from time to time. In fact, I’m counting on it. So the joy of it all is that even when we do, we are forgiven, picked back up, and put back on the right track. The purpose isn’t to make us feel guilty for screwing up, but the purpose is to remind us that we are still loved even when we do.

This isn’t an easy road, my friends, but it is a road that is full of grace and love, which helps us move toward peace and community with all people of all time.

Thanks be to God! Have a great week, everyone!

Photo by Justin Veenema on Unsplash

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