Lent: Time

Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead!!  That’s right, Daylight Savings Time begins today.  That means it will be much darker when I leave the house at 5:30 AM (drat!), but it will stay lighter much later in the day (hooray for walks in the woods with Ginger!)

That got me to thinking about time --- as I prepare for my Easter celebration. 

One of the things that makes this all work for me and for our family is time.  I have time to prepare.  I have time to ready the house, time to shop, time to prepare a special meal, time to decorate.  I keep reading about how we as a generation have less leisure time than previous generations --- but we still have plenty of time.  More than many in our world. 

In part, that’s because we have so many labor saving devices that make time for us --- I don’t have to spend a whole day down at the river pounding my laundry on rocks to get it clean.  I don’t even have to spend the whole day at the Laundromat getting my clothes clean.  I can put a load in the washer and then go about other things in my day.  When its done, I move it to the dryer and I move back to doing other things.  The laundry does not totally consume my time (we just got our dryer fixed yesterday, so I’m a little laundry focused right now --- and appreciative of our newly functioning dryer!!)

I have time.  I can go for a walk in the woods with Ginger.  I can sit and read a book or mess around with this blog.  I can spend a half an hour futzing with the mantle to make it look the way I want it to look.  This afternoon we’re spending time with friends – doing nothing.  Sure, the guys will watch the games and we’ll make pizza together for dinner.  But mostly, we’ll be doing nothing.  We’ll just sit and talk and enjoy each other’s company.  None of us will feel the need to multi-task because our families will starve or freeze if we don’t (how do you think quilting bees and husking bees got started?).  We’ll just idle away the afternoon – and enjoy time.  

Time is a precious gift that I let slip past me all too often.  I let time pass unnoticed and unappreciated.  My challenge this week is to notice time and to appreciate it.  Sitting for just five minutes each morning and evening to spend some quiet time and appreciate that time is the challenge for this week.  Whether your tradition leads you to pray, to meditate or simply to sit quietly and notice the luxury of time --- appreciate some time this week.