Time
posted August 13th, 2007 at 10:55 pm by Betty
We never REALLY know what time it is.
These words came to me yesterday and I’ve been thinking about them ever since.
Of course we all carry watches, so we know the exact time, at any moment, and all kinds of other exactitudes, such as day and month, or time anywhere else in the world. We usually have clues as to what we call “our time and season,” as Ecclesiastes says, a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted ……a time to weep, and a time to laugh and dance, a time to keep silence, and a time to speak, and so forth. We usually, though not always, have some general sense as to whether we are at the beginning, middle or end of our lives.
Yet we can’t forsee the future; we live with the memory of the past and in the present. We usually don’t project ourselves into the future or think about the ifs, for example: If I had known this was going to happen, I would have done more of x and y; or if I knew you were going to leave me, I wouldn’t have treated you the way I did, or I would have said get lost first. We seldom know when we are at a time of loss, or gain for that matter - if I had known you would gift me with a fortune, I wouldn’t have worried so much.
It’s hard to evaluate the time you are in. And what’s more, when life gets routine and humdrum, we go about forgetting about the unexpected.
But in truth, the unexpected happens, and sometimes in a flash, the unexpected consolation, or the unexpected desolation. The problem seems to be that we can’t know what time we are in, until then. Such I suppose is the human condition.
Then there is something people call God’s Time (which I would suggest is REAL TIME) and about that we REALLY don’t know at all. We never know, until it happens, if we will have a God-moment - some word or intuition that might come to us that changes our present perspetive on the way we live our lives or have been living it.
But when you think about it, the heroes of scriptural history never REALLY knew what Time it was. That is, they never really understood God’s REAL plan and movement in the world. Abraham, living in Haran, didn’t know that God would suddenly break into his life and give him a mission. Sitting in his tent, he had no clue that he was on the brink of seeing three angels who would tell them of future events. He never REALLY knew when he might have a vision or a dream that gave challenge or consolation. But one thing we can say for Abraham is that when his God moments occurred, he knew God was near and understood the blessed assurance that all would be well — in God’s Time, we say.
And the disciples of Jesus never REALLY knew what Time it was, whether the next moment would be a parade into Jerusalem or a time of betrayal. They especially had no clue that after the death they would be living in a Time when visions and intutions would be assuring them that God was near. Then they lived differently and blessedly assured that all would be well — in God’s Time, we say.
It is said that some people are favored with gifts to foresee the future and some have intuitions and visionary experiences that are quite remarkable. Mary Magdalene was one of those historical persons who was gifted in this way. Because there are always suspicions about people who take heart from their own experience, her heroic actions got lost to most of us.
But we can learn from her actions. Even in death, she remained loyal to her beloved. She went to the tomb with the spices for annointing the dead, and when she did this, she REALLY didn’t know what time it was - that she would have a vision of Jesus bringing consolation and the blessed assurance that he was near.
God had a plan, a big plan, and Abraham, and the apostles and Mary Magdalene, who were God’s hands and feet, couldn’t know the scope of the plan, couldn’t even know in any real sense, what time it was; yet they were ready to open the door when God came to them.
You may remember Jesus’ words in Luke 12 when he is giving instructions to his disciples. He says: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give alms. Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.”
And then Jesus says one of the most startling things in all of the Christian Scriptures: “Blessed for those who the master finds alert when he comes. For he will fasten his belt and have you sit down to eat, and he will come and serve you.”
For me, this means that God’s Time is REALLY for us.
