The gift of time

One of the topics I've done a bit of reflecting on in the last few weeks has been time. I think it all started when we had a sermon in chapel by Regent's Park chaplain Myra Blyth, who eloquently told us of the Hebrew notion of what she called "intuitive time". In the West, where we are so driven by the clock, intuitive time is more cognizant of the daily, weekly, and seasonal rhythms of life. We still have it, to some extent: we can "intuit" bedtime or naptime, dinnertime, and even time to exercise, to get out of bed, to work, to rest, to be alone, to reflect, etc.

The clock is not inherently an enemy of intuitive time, but unchecked, it does facilitate the loss of our ability to intuit such time. We lose touch with our bodies, with creation, with our relationships. Earmarks of this loss of touch often smack of excess: working too much, eating too much, sleeping too much, relaxing too much, and generally living life at an unsustainable pace. In addition, our heightened dependence on the clock and rejection of intuitive time brings about all new means of justification of one's inability to keep pace, such as the incredible (not in a good way) Gmail custom time.

In one way, this recognition has heightened my appreciation for Church practices all the more. Through the daily office, Morning and Evening Prayer, I find myself more attuned to the rhythm of living in dependent relation to God from day to day (Mt. 6:34). Through following the liturgical calendar, my life is set more to the seasonal rhythm of the life of Christ. Through honoring the Sabbath, I come to recognize the importance of rest--not for the sake of "efficiency"--but for a whole host of theological reasons, from recognizing my own limitations and dependence on God, to acknowledging my relation to the divine, and being a "co-creator", to a foretaste of the true rest offered in Christ.

Without these or other, similar disciplines (and no mistake, they require attention and effort!), I fear the Church runs the risk not only of becoming chronologically indistinguishable from the world, but also of becoming wholly incapable of understanding--and living into--the vast riches of the variance of the biblical seasons...a time for every matter under heaven (Ecc. 3:1)...and therefore the ability to follow our Lord's injunction to "interpret the times" (Mt. 16:3/Lk. 12:56).

Time is a gift of God to us. Would that we might always grow in our acknowledgement and appreciation of it.