The Gift of Time

In all this time you have why don't you take up a hobby? 

In all this time you have why don't you do a theological reflection?

In all this time you have why don't you contribute to my study on life in a time of more time?

In all this time you have why don't you spend hours creating a flashy video that knocks the socks off all the rest?

In all this time you have why don't you join my zoom support group to help with all this time you have?

In all this time you have why don't you get down on your knees and pray? 

In all this time you have can you find some time? 

No, no I can't. I'm not sure as I peruse facebook  groups how people are finding the time to do all the things they want others to find the time to make the time to do. I'm not sure how they fit it all in. I often wonder if I am lazy or just slow or just not committed enough to ensuring I get all the time to make the time to do all the things they want me to have the time to make the time to do. 

Then I remember......

There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven, and that doesn't mean I have to do everything at once.

There is a time to celebrate with someone their new baby, their new project, their newly discovered talent, and a time to walk with those who are sorrowful, who are mourning, who are walking with the dying and dealing with loss.

There is a time to tidy up the garden and make it more beautiful than ever before and also a time to clear up the mess you never had time for before. 

There is a time to tear down old structures and declare good riddance and there is a time to build up those who are mourning the loss of the old as we plan for new ways as yet unknown.

There is a time for fear and crying and despair, just as there is a time for joy to explode in uncontrollable laughter as we see new things amongst rubbish or maybe just need to laugh.

There is a time for mourning, a huge time for mourning - the effects of years of austerity and the catastrophic effects this is having on our response to this crisis, but there is a time also to dance and celebrate with those who are creating hope amongst - the fundraisers, the community groups, the NHS workers who we celebrate with joy and with thankfulness....

There is a time to scatter stones, to look outwards, to dream, and there is a time to gather our dreams and hold onto them waiting to see if they will be realised. 

There is a time to embrace - and that will come and a time to refrain from embracing and social distance like pros. 

There is a time to search for new ways and there is a time to give up and realise that we've done the best we can for now.

There is a time to keep what is normal and a time to throw away those things that used to hold us back and don't seem important anymore. 

There is a time to be still, to be silent (it's number 6 on my weekly list) and a time to speak and attend zoom calls, one must not be more than another. 

There is a time to love those around us deeply and a time to hate those things that mean that we cannot love

There is a time for fighting all this and a time to find deep peace that passes all understanding. 

There is a time for all of this, but now is not the time for it all. 

Be gentle, do what you can, not what you think you should be able to do. And be still, find rest, sit down - for God has time for all of this.