The experience of time lived, and time counted

A wise one was asked by a disciple:

What is the greatest gift in the world?

Without hesitation the wise one replied,
"To have all the time you need. . ."

but then the wise one wisely added;
"But such a measure of time can be given to no one,
Each person must help himself, or herself to a portion,
and learn to use it wisely,

else  the blessings of this most precious of all gifts
will be denied."

Who has all the time they need!

Isn't it a common complaint "not enough time." 

We worry,  will I  finish this project, or that?
will I ever get it done?

۬

There is the popular Sweatshirt slogan,
perhaps you have seen it.

God gave me a certain number of things to do in this life,

it sez 

"and at the rate I am going,  I will never die."

We know the feeling behind that slogan,

and we smile (laugh)

indeed this late twentieth century
may just be  the most time conscious time
of all times.

Most of us have our watches, and our appointment books,
some of us have little computers we carry around,
more of us have alarm clocks,
We try to keep our appointments, and we try not to be late,
it is considered a virtue to be punctual,
resentment is aroused when other people waste our time.

۬We are taught as children to manage our time,

time is money, money is time.

a stitch in time saves nine,

but then we should not go so fast that we don't pay attention

remember, haste makes waste.

So we go through our lives with an eye to the clock,
checking off things on our "to do list,"
all the time feeling insecure,
worried that we may not be using this precious resource well
alas

" waste not, want not" 

doesn't seem apply to time,
even when we waste not a second, 

we want,  we want.

۬

There are whole industries devoted to managing time,
time management is such a sacred cow,
that it would seem almost sacreligious to question it.

so like a good Unitarian Universalist, I will question it.

Question it, not because I am free of time management
I try to manage my time, keep schedules,
I knowing how how precious each minute can be,
I believe in planning, and try not be late,
without my day timer,
I wouldn't get all the things I must get

..............done ................done   

appointments, meetings, telephone calls to make,

and for me there is the writing,
sermons, worship services,  classes, letters, columns,

I remind myself that writing takes time.

۬

Every profession, every life style, every person has their unique
Ways of consuming time,
Being in Time,
And criterion for wasting time.

But even when we consider our unique and special situation,
We recognize a common reality for most of us.

Yes, most of us in our increasingly hectic economy
must know about time management.

Be there on time,
Get it done on time.
Do it all in the least amount of time.

We all do it,  some us do it more than others,
we try to get our time under control
and at one time or another

we can identify with the Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland,

I'm late, I'm late, I'm going to be late

and yet, the more we try to manage it,
the more time slips away, moves on, just keeps on ticking.
the "to-do" lists grow, the pending files swell,
we may complete the days tasks,

but tommorrow always presents a new list
۬
Perhaps we should question this view of time,

maybe the notion of time as a resource to be managed
has a wrong premise,  is based on a wrong assumption

Instead, let us ask ourselves,
can we really ever succeed at managing time? 
Perhaps there is something problematic about the effort itself.

Should we try
to fit as many tasks
into as few minutes as we can,
is that what life is all about?

Let us think a little about time.

What is time after all?
we notice it going by,
and our clocks beat it out in mechanical regularity,

But time as we live it

isn't like clock time at all,
there are times when hours go by in the winking of an eye,
and times when seconds seem to stand still
exposing every dimension
of that incrediably short unit of measure.

and they tell us that the life span of a subatomic particle
is measured in milliseconds
the fundamental stuff of our existence, 

our cosmic glue

and the second is too long a measure.

Everyone has experienced what has become a cliche...
The watched pot does not boil,

that if one turns a kettle on and stand and wait,
it will seem to take forever,

Go do something, become engaged, and it will boil away.

۬
Subjective time is not like clock time,
we percieve both long and short time, full time and empty time
as reflections on our activity in time.

And then there is remembered time.

How long is a year?
Has it been a long time since you last saw a good friend?

I have missed my friends,
and the absense has seemed like an eternity

I would recall my friend and the time seemed very long,
and I would rail against the long time of separation
and look forward to the potential time of reunion

too long.

but how long is it,  how long had the separation been
eight months,  a long, long eight months.

I recall someone I met eight months ago,
a new friend, somebody I am still getting acquainted with,
eight months doesn't long enough to make a new friend,
an old friend

۬Think back over your life,
what do we remember,
the busy days of rushing,
the accomplishments, the achievements,
of your well managed days.
is that what you remember?

Or the moments of beauty in a special place,
fishing on lake in the summer,
or perhaps looking out over a vista at mountains,
or a wonderful beach,
maybe the moments of closeness with special friends,
beloved relations,
the moments in which we are being deeply human,
the creative moments, the moments of joy.   

If much of our lives are spent rushing, looking at clocks,
keeping appointments,  doing things,

why don't we recall these busy times?
these achievement filled times.

۬
How many people do you think
really wish they could have completed more projects,
regrets not having completed their "to do list."
when they review their lives from their death bed.

The Greeks had two words for time:    kronos, and kairos.
time as a fate to be endured, time without differential,
time as steady flow of the sand down,
down into the lower chamber of the hour glass,
time as outside of our lives,  judging us, and moving on,
leaving us behind.    That is kronos. 
We have chronometers to measure kronos, 
clock time,  the rule of time over us,

This is the time we try to manage,

and being one of the powerful fates
kronos always succeeds in managing us.
۬
But Kairos is a different,

Kairos breaks into our lives

and connects us to something larger,

Kairos is experienced as moments of insight,
moments of deep and powerful peace.
moments of growth and decision.
moments which help us define our lives,
beyond the fates, 
knowing freedom
in our being from the tick tick tock of kronos.

We are so sophisticated, and knowledgeable
and try to manage this kind of time as well.

some of us call this quality time, 
time that is filled with meaning.
time for intimacy,
time that we reserve and even schedule
time we set aside.

۬
The ancient Jews knew about setting time aside
for being with what they called the Holy,
Six days shall you labour and on the Seventh you shall rest,
honor the Sabbath and keep it holy,
special time.

Many of us have found that worship in our congregation,   
or special groups that we meet with to discuss a book,   
have an aspect of Sabbath keeping.

This is good, quality time is a good idea,
but  the kairos moment can not be planned,
sometimes it breaks in upon us,
in those times we must be there for kairos,
being present to the moment that was unexpected,
yet could have happened anytime,

Mark has Jesus say  "the time is fulfilled
and the kingdom of God has come near, repent,
believe the Good news."
 
Mark of course wrote in Greek.
and what we just heard was translation,

Let me translate this in a new way. . .
Kairos is completely here , 
the power  of  the All-that-is-Holy is within your reach . .
renew  your hearts
hear the news of  Well Being

or perhaps this

You are in this moment,

Which like every  moment

Is a moment of  Transforming Insight

Is a moment of profound connection to all Being

Now is the time that offers the very renewal of your deepest being, 
reach out,

its there. its there, its there,  its here

Now I am not saying that my translation will show up
in the next edition of the Bible, 
although I believe it captures the meaning of original
better than the standard translations

but I am saying that those who have fresh ears to hear,
might hear a fresh message.

۬The ordinary translation has the virtue of familarity,
yet many of us have heard it so often
it no longer has freshness,  impact,

perhaps new translation  may help us hear this wisdom.

Kairos    ..................      fully here

and ............again

The time of our lives is now,  let us embrace it.

The time of our lives, 
the moments that give depth and character to a life time,

we are urged to embrace such a moment,
to make a heartfelt change,
so as to be present to such a fullfilling time

۬What keeps us in slavery to clock time?
and why do we  have such difficulty being present
being there for our life time,
  for the time of our lives

Partially I think it is our social conditioning,
we have been trained up in economy that values success,
afterall,
success is rewarded with affluence,
success is recognized with prestige,

and success is associated with getting lots of things done,
in the least amount of time.
Yet,  collectively we now work more hours
than at any other time in human history.

and so many of us are cronically behind schedule,
thus we work even harder to catch up,   
۬and in our desire to achieve,
in our efforts to get all the things done,
eventially we habituate  to desperation.
and we are pulled us from away from a life of deliberation
of presense,

Think about it,
it may require some letting go of our busyness,
learning to keep little Sabbaths,
putting a little time aside and keeping it
and being with that which is Holy for us,
۬Yet To live the time of our lives,
we must cultivate humour
we must learn to smile,

and step back
to relinquish
those desperate attempts to manage chronos, 
to manage time,

instead      become  aware of the qualities of time,
learn to give the moments of our living
the necessary attention.

letting 
those precious  moments be a new revelation to us,
a unvieling of the time of our lives.