To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV)

Fully Present – Timing is Everything Series – Part 6

Go to PART 1  |  PART 2  |  PART 3  |  PART 4  |  PART 5  |  PART 6  |  PART 7

Abraham Heschel, a Jewish Rabbi, and theologian said, “The higher goal of spiritual living is not to amass a wealth of information, but to face sacred moments.”

The ultimate goal of time is presence.

We’re so busy and time poor, we’re running around here and there and collapsing in a heap at the end of the day. We work from dawn till dusk to make money to pay for things. And more things and more things. Things aren’t bad in and of themselves, but when the accumulation of things rules us? Well, I would call that an idol of sorts.

For some of us who cry “I’m busy all the time,” I would suggest we stop and ask ourselves, “What with? What for? To what end?”

I used to think that in any endeavor and for any cause, the “end justified the means.” But now, a few years on, I think that's baloney. The MEANS is the END. What's the point of reaching your goal if you’ve had to manipulate your way to get there? Or live with incredible stress? Or not have time for friends and family? Or be so ambitious and rude that you have no one to share it with in the end? What if you have to compromise all of your values to get what you want?

Time is ticking for all of us. We don’t know how long we have on this earth. We can’t make the clock speed up or slow down. Time moves along unapologetically, without pause or consideration of our feelings on it. (Feeling encouraged?).

So what do we do with our time? We work, we consume, we buy and we use. And we judge our lives and each other by the amount stuff that we have and the ladder’s we’ve climbed and the things that we own. And in the middle of all of that is family, love, friends, soccer on Saturdays, Church on Sundays, movie nights and coffees and holidays and late nights and early mornings and tragedies and happiness and shocks and surprises… all whizzing by us at an alarming rate.

There’s an ancient Hebrew word, “Hineini,” that means “Here I am.” It’s not the kind of ‘here I am’ that you say when someone questions your whereabouts in the house. It’s a strong, bold statement of presence in the midst of transition, fear, change, and transformation.

It’s the word the child Samuel responded with when God called him in the middle of the night. It was Isaiah answering the call of the Lord, “Who can we send?” with, “Here I am, send me.”

It’s the word you use when you’re looking life right in the face. Instead of just going through the motions and filling up your time with distractions so that you don’t have to think too deeply about anything, you’re fully present in the moment.

I am fully present in my life.
I am fully present with my family.
I am fully present in my job and art.
I am fully present in my community.
I am fully present as a global citizen.
I am fully present: with my friends, in conversations, in sickness and health, in pain and joy, war and peace.

Here I am.

The good times?
The bad times?
In injustice?
In mercy?
In reckoning?
In standing up for those afflicted?
In acknowledging the pain and plight of others?
In taking responsibility?
In forgiving and needing forgiveness?
In confusion and heartache?

Here I am.

There is a time for everything (Ecc 3:1), so embrace all of your “times.” The clock keeps ticking, the world keeps spinning. In the words of the brilliant Mary Oliver,

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?“

How can you be more fully present in your situation? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Go to Part 7 – Rhythms of Grace »

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