Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is?

 

Taking time off between Christmas and the New Year is a luxury of which I've rarely been able to indulge.  This year it's a special treat. I've already used the time to clean my Inbox of the 400 emails that I was going to read some time. I've also read through the email box named "Inspiration" where I put things along the way that look interesting but which I didn't have time for at the moment.

 

The idea of time has come up in enough conversations lately that I've noticed the trend.  Some of those conversations centered around the beleif that time seems to be moving faster than ever; blink it's Christmas, blink it's summer.  I attribute the seemingly increased pace of time to the fact that I'm getting older--it takes me more time to prepare and more time to let go.

 

But other conversations regarding time have to do with a vague sense that "the times" in which we are living are changing--perhaps even on a cosmic level. There is less that can be said about such things other than noting the perceived difference.  These inklings, wonderings or awarenesses are not the stuff of headlines or predictions; only the matter of thoughts one ponders in one's heart and mentions only in whispers.

 

I remember recalling on more than one occasion this year Fr. Laurence's sharing that it is beyond human capability to "make time."  How often have you and I said we need to "make time" for something or someone?  Fr. Laurence is quick to remind us that we never "Make Time"  but that time is a Divine gift given to each of us. There is no way to "make" more than we already have.  Our only decision is how we will use the time  given.  I can choose to "take time" for a project, a nap, a friend; however, I do not make it.

                                        

As January 1 approaches, often our thoughts move to what we will take time to accomplish in the year that lies ahead. 'Should the Lord tarry' how will I spend the time that is mine to use as I see fit? Perhaps not quite as many of us look back at the year which is ending; looking back with vision that is only clear in hindsight; glad for some things, saddened by others, hopeful that we've learned from our mistakes and rejoicing in the good we wish to bring forward.  

 

In her monthly email Joan Chittister sent this bit of wisdom:  "A year is nothing but the amount of time it takes for the earth to go completely around the sun before it begins the trip all over again.  The completion of a year, then, is not a sign that things are ending.  It is more the realization that life repeats itself unendingly.  We have a chance to do everything again: better this time, more comfortably this time, more joyfully this time."

The ending of one calendar year and the beginning of a new one more readily brings these kinds of thoughts and notions to our consciousness doesn't it.  Yet how beneficial it would be if each day we'd take time  to be aware of the possibilities before us, to look back over the past 24 hours--to self-correct, to make amends, to clean our slate and to lay plans for the good we hope in our hearts to joyfully accomplish tomorrow?  

 

The practice of taking this time, a spiritual discipline of the Christian tradition for centuries, is called "The Examen."  Imagine the healing and wholeness which would be ours if we'd--take the time--not annually but daily and not on any cosmic level but just personally, to remind ourselves that we have the chance to live our lives better and with more joy!  Do you have the time?

 

On January 1st, I'm going to be posting a little outline for the spiritual practice of  The Examen.  I think its a really, really good use of our time...in these times...and I hope you'll consider taking time for it each day. But please, don't try to make time for it--that is simply beyond our capabilities! 

WITH JOY AND PEACE, Kathleen Bronagh Weller, THE CELTIC MONK