One of the biggest cries at this time of year is: where is all the time going? Students and scholars are reeling under the shorter term and the increased work-load, as we all hit payback time after the long World Cup holidays.
One of the biggest cries at this time of year is: where is all the time going? Students and scholars are reeling under the shorter term and the increased work-load, as we all hit payback time after the long World Cup holidays.
Time is at such a premium. Deadlines and assignments, work commitments and projects, still have to be completed, regardless of the fact that the time available is so much less.
How do we find and maintain a balance? What are our priorities? For some, a weekly or monthly diary planner is helpful, for others computer diaries, palmtops and integrated day planners are essential.
A rhythm of work and rest for each week is so essential. In the beginning, God created… and on the seventh day, God rested!
We all need that sabbath rest to be restored, to be re-created, to spend time with family and friends, to spend time in worship.
It is a great pity, and in many ways so exploitative, that more and more shops are open seven days a week, and what used to be a special day set aside when everyone rested, and worshipped as a community, has been badly eroded and virtually lost for many.
I think it is disgraceful that we have a number of our retail clothing shops open on Christmas Day, as well as every Sunday.
The fourth commandment is to “Keep the sabbath day holy” and that commandment is extended to “your manservant, your maidservant, and the foreigner who is within your gates,” (Exodus 20:10).
And on another level, a rule of life can give shape and order, and keep us focused. One such rule has four components to it: Worship (which keeps us connected with God and with the Christ-centred community of faith); Devotion (personal prayer and Bible reading, silent reflection, growing in our awareness of God in the everyday);
Justice (upholding human dignity, acting against injustice, caring for the environment, engaging in community and national issues); Compassion (love for all people, including family, friends, colleagues, and self, and my enemies and strangers that I meet).
Nobody wants to look over their lives and wish they had made better use of their time. Let’s put first things first. As the hymn says “Let our ordered lives confess the beauty of
Thy peace.”
