Time Stands Still

If you have attended some of our Men's Meetings or read some of my blogs or have just been around me when I have been thinking of it, you have probably heard me talk about how disappointed I am in how fast time passes.  I recognize that it is probably something all "aging" people think about.  Unfortunately, I guess I must qualify for that category. 

I am most keenly aware of the topic as my kids hit certain significant milestones.  It is disappointing to me to realize that I can only remember a very small fraction of the time that we have had together.  If someone has lived in your house for 18 years, one should be able to better account for more than the number of moments that I can specifically recall.  With only a few exceptions, it seems that the minutes, hours and years have mostly blurred into a fuzzy lump. 

I experienced something completely different on my recent trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota.  When I am here at home, I get caught up in the mundane and in all of the seemingly important activities that consume our lives and time.  In the BWCA, I was present in almost every minute.  In turn that made me very aware of every minute.  I found that that dynamic, put together with the fact that we could not see the sun most of the trip, caused us to drastically over estimate how fast time was passing.

On the first day, after many hours of paddling, canoeing, and portaging, both my son and I estimated that it was 4 or 4:30 in the afternoon.  It was 1:50.  That happened over and over on the trip.  One morning after sleeping in, fixing breakfast, eating breakfast, cleaning up after breakfast, talking and journaling, we estimated that it might be about time for lunch.  It was 9:30.  I had not experienced this phenomenon since I was a kid.  

I started to realize what really causes us to lose time.  It is busyness.  All of the stuff with which we fill our lives swallows our time or at least our awareness of it.  In addition, many of us spend our time lamenting the past or worrying about the future instead of living in the moment.  Television or surfing the web can do it too. 

I started wondering how I could bring this back to Indy.  How do I force myself to jettison the things from my life that steal my time?  How do I live more in the moment rather than in the past or worrying about the future?  I have started to ask myself, "Why am I doing what I am doing?"  Is there any value in it? 

I really would like your comments here.  What are your thoughts? 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ringing the Bell at the Brothel

"The young man who rings the bell at the brothel is unconsciously looking for God." from The World, The Flesh, and Father Smith by Bruce Marshall I love the quote above! I heard it recently when listening to a Podcast by John Eldredge. As I have discussed before on this blog, men often take their search for affirmation, intimacy, and validation to the woman. It is God's intention that we approach the woman with our strength, to protect and to lead our families. Instead, all too often, we approach the woman in search of our strength. But, she cannot, nor was she intended to, provide that. She is not God! But, we keep searching, thinking the problem is with the woman that we have chosen, not our expectations. Indeed, her beauty is the pinnacle of God's creation. But her beauty is not the destination. Instead, that beauty is intended to be an arrow, pointing us straight to the heart of the Creator.
Read more

Tiger Woods is Looking For God

A few months back, I wrote a blog about a quote that I had read. See the details here , but the quote was "The young man who rings the bell at the brothel is unconsciously looking for God." Here is why... God is a God of beauty! He is continually wooing us to Himself with the beauty that is all around us. I have written about how this recognition of beauty and its impact is unique to mankind. I am sure that all of you have experienced this when you have gazed at the mountains, the ocean, a star-filled sky, the clouds of a gathering thunderstorm, etc. This feeling is the wooing that I spoke of above. Men, you know that the beauty of a woman has a similar, yet more intense, impact. That is because Woman is God's crowning achievement. This is what Solomon was saying in the Song of Solomon. Woman is beauty personified. Her beauty and all of God's creation are intended to stir a longing in our hearts. A longing for our creator. But, that intention and plan took a
Read more

Dying to Self

After all of these years, I have pretty much decided that my greatest enemy is not Satan. It is me! More specifically it is my selfishness. It's my tendency for my motivation to do anything to be "What can I get out of this?" or "How can I manipulate people, circumstances, etc. to get things to turn out the way I want them?" I don't think these things consciously! It is just obvious when I really evaluate my behaviors and feelings. The irony of it all is that this approach causes me great pain and is very tiring. It is hard work to always be trying to manipulate your surroundings. It is no fun for those who love me either. Many years ago, I worked for a pastor named Bill Britton. He was an author and evangelist. One of the articles that he wrote follows. In the end, it is obvious to me that I am NOT dead yet. Dying to Self Bill Britton When you are forgotten or neglected or purposely set at naught, and you don’t sting and hurt with the ins
Read more