Time is
flying!
Let me back
up. I started this post with a cliché, and a nonsensical one at that. I am
sorry. I can do better. Time is not an object, and therefore cannot “fly”. It
would make more sense if I said, “this computer is flying.” That would make
more sense not because this computer is currently capable of levitating, but
because in our imaginations we could picture a computer literally fluttering
through the air. On its own, you see. Pigs flying makes perfect sense. Not
because pigs fly but because pigs most certainly could fly if someone fashioned
some fancy technology alongside their pathetic little tails. But time is not an
object. To say time is flying would be like saying “physics is flying”. Um, no.
Physics is a concept, a way to explain the universe. It and time are certainly
doing a lot of things, whether real or imagined (think time travel). But not
flying, and such a sentence is not even coherent.
But my
goodness, I digress. What I am trying to get you thinking about is the
fascinating concept that we know of as time. It is my word for the year. What
time is it? I have been attempting to answer that question for myself this
year, not with an arbitrary accounting for where and when we are in the
universe, but with a focus, courage, and humility to live in the moment and
love, serve, think, and act in such a way that might, God willing, bring more
hope and more Jesus to bear in our crazy world. As the “teacher” says in
Ecclesiastes, “for everything there is a season, and a time for every manner
under heaven.” If time is not an infinite concept – that is to say, if it was
“created” by one who is not subject to its limitations – but is still a concept
within our reality, than the way we think about it and act according to it is
very important. And quite challenging. We say things like “time is flying by”
or “where did the time go?”, and the angelic beings of heaven look at us as if
we have two heads. As it happens, it is they who may themselves have two(or more) heads, but
that is neither here nor there. They are right to think us crazy for such
comments. Somewhere amid ignoring time, wasting time, “maximizing” time, and
obsessing over time is the godly Christian life.
The Bible
says, “make the best use of the time, for the days are evil.” That is true and
helpful on one level, yet on its own it is out of context and a bit strange. Time
cannot be “used” if it does not ultimately exist. The entire context in this
passage in Ephesians 5 says, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise
but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”
Seems to me that “look carefully how you walk”, and “do not be foolish”, and
“understand what the will of the Lord is”, are more practical and actionable
imperatives than “make the best use of the time”. I could spend a mortal life trying
to figure out what that is supposed to mean and, in the process, forget to
watch my step and fall headlong into a puddle like some fool, thinking in God’s
sovereignty that is what was meant to happen. Pity that would be.
Rather, so
far this year I have discovered two main components of what I think is a start
to a biblical understanding and application of time. I learn the most when I
read, and in this case, I am partly regurgitating a combination of ideas from multiple
books that until now were mashed painfully together within my head. Not
literally, you see. I am using reading as a metaphor for eating, and the brain
functioning as the stomach wait now that I try to explain it I realize the
regurgitating verb ruins the entire metaphor in a somewhat graphic way. Sorry
for the run-on sentence.
This post is
about the first of these two components: pay attention.
In the book
of Jeremiah chapter 6 and verse 16 it says, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Stand by the
roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk
in it; and find rest for your souls.’
In his book Recapturing
the Wonder, Mike Cosper says about this verse, “It’s a call to stillness –
to stand rather than continue our aimless wandering, to resist the momentum of
our chaotic world and look, think, consider where we’re going and why. Hannah
Arendt once wrote that we need to ‘think what we’re doing,’ saying that the
problem of our modern age is thoughtlessness. We live busy lives, and our
thoughtlessness allows us to continue to be carried along in the currents of an
unreflective culture.”
Stop. Look.
Think. This is what it means to pay attention. The result is rest for your
soul!
STOP
What I see
from this verse in Jeremiah is simply to stop; during a walk, driving a car,
typing an email, even having a conversation (though be conscious of social
cues). In order to pay attention to something or someone there must be a break
for thought and reflection. Sleep is an unconscious break. We need periodic
conscious breaks.
Stop
scrolling. For just a bloody second. What are some things you have just seen?
Does it make you sad, confused, excited, anxious, jealous? Marinate on that a
bit. I check my email more times a day than I pray. That is wretched sin and in
repentance I resolve to stop and change with the Lord’s help.
Stop
working. For just a minute. How is it going? Are you working on the right
things? Do you need help? Do you need a drink of water for goodness sake? Often
I get frustrated at work when I have to go to the bathroom or when it is
lunchtime, because I can’t “afford” to take a break and dread restarting what I
was doing. I am hopelessly depraved and need Jesus to help me stop.
Stop multi-tasking.
Matt Perman says, “Multi-tasking seems like a way to save time but actually
costs more time and is, in fact, impossible. It is inefficient because it makes
both tasks take longer.” I find myself creating distractions that aren’t necessary
or important, and I can do so at the expense of ignoring quality time with my
wife or daughter or co-workers. Do I really have to pick up that toy on the floor
that I falsely perceive as a trip hazard on the way to getting the remote to
change the channel, and in the process miss an adorable smile and giggle from my
daughter? No. Do I really have to fill up my cup at the water cooler at the
same time I am loading the Keurig and at the same time I am washing my coffee
mug from the day before, and in the process not have the mental capacity to say
hi to my co-worker who comes in the breakroom to get an apple from the refrigerator?
No. I need to stop and pay attention.
Stop worrying.
As Newt Scamander says, all worrying does is make you suffer twice. My wife
graciously helped me see this year that I stress out about things that aren’t
even a big deal. And with things that are, what is the point? We are born into
trouble; worrying doesn’t change that!
LOOK
Why is it
that when people say “don’t look now, but…” we always look? Yet when someone
says “look at that…” we often act like we are looking but really aren’t? What
is wrong with us?
Do you know
that none of us were saved by Jesus who didn’t stop and look to Him? If we
never saw Jesus by looking to Him we never received his saving grace. How could
we have? Isaiah 45:22 (KJV) says, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends
of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” The famous Charles
Spurgeon heard and obeyed this verse and was saved. He once said, “I looked and
I looked until I almost looked my eyes away.”
Look at the
created order. Cosper, referring to God’s answer to Job and his friends during
Job’s suffering, says, “God doesn’t respond to Job’s misery with explanations
or dismissive comments. Instead, he calls Job’s attention to the confusing
wonder of the world we live in. He leads Job from the mystery of his suffering
to the mysteries of creation, from puzzle to puzzle, from wonder to wonder. And
as Chesterton puts it, ‘The secret of God is a bright and not a sad one.’ In
the skipping of mountain goats, the thunder of snow, and the crashing of
oceans, there’s a wink and smile, a God who is joyful and even playful in the
midst of the madness. While we may not be able to comprehend it, there is – at
least to God – sensibility and an order. The universe is a Cosmos after all,
and Chesterton tells us its maker has a smile and a sense of humor, even as he
reminds us of our smallness in its midst. He calls our attention from the midst
of sorrows to the broader world where sorrows are one mystery among many.”
Look at the
people around you. What are they thinking? What are their longings? How can you
pray for or help them? Don’t just people watch but look at them. Don’t stare
but look purposefully.
Look includes
listening well. I was recently introduced to the concept of agile listening,
and it was a breakthrough. True listening is not just trying harder and harder
to hear and understand what someone is saying. It is strengthening new muscles
to listen in different and more effective ways. Like reading, or writing, or
typing, or grocery shopping, or really anything else – it is working smarter
rather than harder. It is not doing the same thing multiple times or with more
effort each time expecting it to improve but doing it differently so that it
will improve. Robert Greenleaf, who is known for coining the term “servant
leadership”, or at least making it popular in our era, once said that good
listening means that “the automatic response to any problem is to listen
first.” He goes on to quote St. Francis who famously prayed, “Grant that I may
not seek so much to be understood as to understand.” Look by listening like
that. I am writing to myself here.
Again I say,
look to Him. A friend said this simple phrase to me recently as an
encouragement and for accountability. It is so powerful and effective! Blessed
are the pure in heart, for they shall SEE God! Look to Him who can save and
give eternal rest for your soul. Look to Him who is saving you and can keep you
and present you blameless and with great joy to the Father who is mighty to be
praised. Look!
THINK
In college
during fraternity pledgeship I was forced in an “instruction session”
(intentionally vague for legal reasons) to mimic The Thinking Man
because I was so quiet. Thankfully I was clothed, unlike the famous sculpture.
Bear with me as I digress again and attempt to make a point.
I thought
for a while that my quietness was a bad thing and even something to be
embarrassed by. Now I believe God has blessed me in such a way that an
important part of the Christian life comes naturally to me. That is, thinking.
That is, intentional reflection on the realities and events of life, using the
Bible to frame and inform my thoughts (as opposed to using my thoughts to
inform the Bible). Yes, it is true, I overthink often and there are serious
downsides to this tendency (I’m working on it). Yet, I am thankful to be gifted
in such a way by my Lord to have something to offer here, specifically as it
involves a biblical perspective of time and the value of paying attention in
the form of thinking. Here are some things I have learned:
Think
purely. I used to think the biblical command to “take every thought captive and
make it obedient to Christ” meant only to dismiss impure thoughts and replace them
with pure thoughts. It does mean that, kind of. It does mean to end up with
pure thoughts. But I have found it doesn’t mean to simply remove the impure or
irrelevant thoughts; it means to evaluate them, and understand them, and
challenge them, and ultimately channel them towards something wholesome and
pure. Thought issues are heart issues, and the biblical and gospel solution is
not behavior modification but deep soul work. Think purely by taking your
thoughts captive and channeling them towards obedience after careful
examination.
Think
clearly. Thinking takes time. I promise you have it. If you don’t spend time in
thought, your mind will feel like a pillowcase of Halloween candy or a bag of
dead leaves in Autumn. Overstuffed, no organization, no rhyme or reason, only
confusion. The human brain, and the human soul, is not meant to consume
temporal information and experience like it is collecting coins or stamps,
never to be used again. It is meant to reflect on information and experience in
an orderly way and connect dots, experience emotion, and serve others in
constructive ways. An unclear mind is like a fancy computer system that cannot
run queries or output reports; just a mess of information that makes no sense
and that no one has access to anyway. Be thoughtful, that is “full of
thoughts”, but take the time to translate those thoughts into something clear
and useful. This will not happen automatically. Trust me! Why do you think I am
writing this post?? Reference the brain regurgitating metaphor.
Think
creativity. The ability to imagine is such a gift. I am going to be honest; if
you have trouble or don’t enjoy the likes of Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of
Narnia, Harry Potter, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, or other fantasy
type stories (to use modern examples), I might gently challenge your healthy use
of your God-given imagination. These types of stories, speaking from personal
experience, unleash the imagination in a way that facilitates beautiful and
constructive thought, which ultimately makes the true story of redemptive
history revealed in the Bible and fulfilled in Jesus marvelous. I will rely on
my British literary companions (and Tim Keller) here. They have so much to say
on this matter, and it is GOLD.
Tolkien: "For creative Fantasy is founded upon the hard recognition that things are so in the world as appears under the sun; on a recognition of fact, but a slavery to it. So upon logic was founded the nonsense that displays itself in the tales and rhymes of Lewis Carroll. If men really could not distinguish between frogs and men, fairy-stories about frog-kings would not have arisen."
Chesterton: “Fairy tales do not tell
children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy
tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”
Lewis: "I think it is possible that by confining your child to blameless stories of child life in which nothing at all alarming even happens, you would fail to banish the terrors and would succeed in banishing all that can ennoble them or make them endurable. For in the fairy tales, side by side with the terrible figures, we find the immemorial comforters and protectors, the radiant ones...It would be nice if no little boy in bed, hearing, or thinking the hears a sound, were ever at all frightened. But if he is going to be frightened, I think it better that he should think of giants and dragons than merely of burglars. And I think St. George, or any bright champion in armor, is a better comfort than the idea of the police."
Keller: "We love stories about victory snatched from the jaws of defeat. Or sacrificial heroism that brings life out of certain death. And we pay money to watch those kinds of movies, and we pay money to read about those stories...and modern people say life is not like that. But Tolkien points out that these are deep human longings. For some reason human beings in our day and time want the kind of stories that are very well told, that evoke secondary belief, that catch you up in them, that tell you that good will triumph over evil, that there is a supernatural world, that you're not stuck in time, that there is love without parting, that there is a way of escaping death; why would people still feel this way?...People know at the fact level that we're all going to die, that we will lose loved ones, or they will lose us. But underneath, all human beings feel that there shouldn't be death. Good should triumph over evil. This is how reality ought to be. This is why the stories that are popular are like fairy tales."
Think
actively. Thinking should always lead to action of some kind, whether to pray, to
apologize, to express love or praise, to serve, or just to continue in daily
life with more joy in the Lord. The mind shouldn’t “wander”, unless it wanders
towards something that is helpful to someone or glorifies God. I am lousy at
this. A major sin area I am working on specifically in my marriage is
passiveness in conversation and sanctification. God is calling me to and
helping me be assertive. I need my thoughts to become words – of affirmation,
of unguarded emotional processing – and actions, to serve others rather than
settle in the false comfort of my own mind. That comfort is actually danger
land.
Think
purposefully. Limit daydreaming. Good thinking confirms and reveals the
promises of God in Scripture fulfilled in Jesus. The Bible says we are being
transformed by the renewing of our minds – purposeful thought. It also says we
are being transferred from one degree of glory to another. Our thoughts, as
part of our life, are taking us somewhere. Part of sanctification is growth in
the “knowledge of the Lord”. It is progressive – albeit with valleys – but
ultimately increasing. Let your thinking be part of that process, with the help
of the Spirit.
Stop. Look.
Think. Pay attention. But then what? The next post is about the second
component relating to discerning the time: cultivate virtue.
