January 2, 2003
Happy New Year! The old year seems to me to have zipped by so fast that it was hardly more than a blur. Why in the world do we use images of bearded old men hobbling on crooks and crawling babies as symbols of the changing from one year to the next? NASCAR would be a much better symbol in my mind!
Isn’t it interesting, though, that for being just a bunch of numbers marking time, the dates on our calendars have such a big impact on our thoughts? But there we are: we’re impressed by measurable passages of time. And maybe rightly so: time is more precious than gold for each of us.
I remember the Department of Education ads that quipped, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” I can’t but help think that “time” is a worse thing to waste!
Think about it. If you’ve ever felt that you’ve lost your mind, you’ve probably found it again eventually. I lose mine about once a week, but generally seem to find it again in short order. Sometimes I find it under a car seat, sometimes in the sofa cushions, and once in awhile it’s been carried off by one of my children and hidden in a pile of plastic army men or stuffed animals all looking up at me innocently with their big button eyes.
But when you lose a moment, you’ve lost it forever. You won’t even find its remains in the lint trap of the dryer. Believe me: I’ve looked.
Ah! If only we’d realize how precious our moments are! More precious than gold are these small opportunities to influence our futures or the futures of others, whether we’re talking about a spouse, our children, our friends and neighbors, our co-workers, or even strangers. These “small opportunities” that we could be seizing daily to brighten a day, lighten a load or offer help in giving direction to someone adrift in life may make all the difference in determining the destiny of another human being.
But we so often choose instead to spend those moments counting minutes until coffee break, hours until we’re off work, days until the weekend, months until vacation, years until we find that job that will really let us spread our wings, and decades until retirement. Meanwhile, our moments slip away like children who’ve written with crayon on the wall. Too bad. For every moment we lose, we lose an opportunity, a “might-have-been” and a dream is diminished.
On the other hand, if we’ve already heeded such counsel and rushed out to buy a Palm Pilot, we could be susceptible to the lie that we have to keep busy just to keep busy. Frankly, doing something for the sake of merely doing something is just as bad as not doing anything at all.
“What” we do is as important as “how much” we do. It is right that we find things in which to invest our time and energy. But as we start finding things to do, we need to ask the question, “Is this where I want to leave my legacy?”
Why? Because “how” we choose to spend the moments given to us reveals where our values are.
Instead of fretting excessively over exactly what mutual fund or stock option to buy into, we must begin to invest our moments in areas that ultimately matter (sorry to everyone who confuses the “afterlife” with a generous retirement fund).
First, consider your own spiritual life. Is it what it should be? Or are you “putting off” those things until a more expedient time? This is a terribly dangerous attitude for we often find that we don’t have all the tomorrows we had counted on. If there are unresolved spiritual issues in your life that need to be addressed, be wise and deal with them now.
Secondly, let’s invest in other people, particularly others who are in need. Look for folks in valleys of fear, loneliness, hunger or pain. Take a moment, consider its worth, and then plant it in the fertile soil of human need. It will bear fruit.
The Bible says in Ephesians 5:16-17, “Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” As 2004 opens its blank pages to the pen of your choices, be careful what you write.
(Thom Mollohan has ministered in southern Ohio the past eight years and is currently the pastor of Pathway Community Church. He and his wife are the parents of three children. He may be reached by email at pastorthom@pathwaygallipolis.com).
