Spending our time well

Spending our time well I know I鈥檓 not the only one who sits and wonders about time. I don鈥檛 mean deep musings about the nature of time and space (except when I am watching Doctor Who) or the physics of time, like the late Stephen Hawkins, nor even the philosophy of time 鈥� I mean those everyday questions about time such as, 鈥淲hy does it take so long for the clock to get to lunchtime, and then moments for my break to end?鈥� Or, 鈥淲here has the time gone this afternoon, there was so much I was going to do?鈥� Or even, 鈥淲ill this sermon ever end?鈥澨�

And at present many of us seem to have nothing but time. We鈥檝e been freed up from rushing around from meeting to meeting, visit to visit, errand to errand. We are not travelling; we can鈥檛 use or lose our time in the same way. We have all the time we need, kind of.

So what are we doing with our time? Are we cursing the surfeit of it, complaining we鈥檙e bored and don鈥檛 know what to do? Are we lamenting what we can鈥檛 do with our time? Are we setting out on some great journey of self-improvement; learning to paint or draw or dance or do yoga, or whatever? Are we enjoying space to read, listen to music or audiobooks, watch the movies we鈥檝e been saving on the PVR for months, binge watch Tiger King?

Perhaps we鈥檙e busy doing nothing. Making a point of not filling our days with trivia, or watching too much news, or trying to unplug from all those things that usually distract and frustrate and divert us.

There鈥檚 no shortage of online pundits telling us what we听should听be doing 鈥� learning more, being active, finding ways to be productive 鈥� it seems that unless we are 鈥榙oing鈥� things we are, in some way, 鈥榳asting鈥� time. That seems to be a very common theme in our society, that unless we spend our time 鈥榙oing鈥�, unless we have paid employment, unless we are perceived to be 鈥榮uccessful鈥�, then somehow we have less value, we are wasted, we are of less worth.

In the Christian tradition no one is worth less because of what they do, or don鈥檛, do for a living. No one is of lower value because they are poor or less educated than another. No one is considered worthless because of how they look, or what colour their skin is, or how smart they are, or because of who they love.听听Sure, there are Christians who use the stories and myths of Christianity to justify racism, homophobia, intolerance, selfishness and their own prejudices 鈥� but at the heart of the scripture and tradition of Christianity, and indeed of the Jewish roots of the Christian faith, is a profound understanding that God loves us. In fact, the defining aspect of God鈥檚 nature is love 鈥� as the Christian Scripture says 鈥楪od is love,鈥� not that God loves, or is loving, but that God鈥檚 very being is made of love.

And this is how God relates to human beings 鈥� we see again and again statements of God鈥檚 love for us. In the Hebrew Bible (the Jewish Scriptures) Israel is understood to represent all of humanity, and to have the responsibility for sharing the message of faith with all people, and the 31^st听Chapter of Jeremiah, one of the prophets of Israel, says clearly to Israel, speaking on behalf of God 鈥淚 have loved you with an everlasting love;听therefore听I have continued听my faithfulness to you,鈥� 鈥� even the somber and painful book of 鈥楲amentations鈥� has the reminder, 鈥淭he steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, God鈥檚 mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning 鈥� great is God鈥檚 faithfulness.鈥�

In the Christian scriptures this theme continues 鈥� including probably the most famous verse of the Bible. John鈥檚 Gospel Chapter 3 verse 16, 鈥淕od loved the world so much that God gave their only son鈥︹€� this is the message we have just celebrated in the Church (though not in our buildings, but in our homes) 鈥� that God鈥檚 love is so great that even though it meant dying, Jesus continued to proclaim love, and to speak out against all those things which prevent human beings knowing that love 鈥� injustice, poverty, oppression, selfishness, greed, empire, and even religious institutions.

So, whenever someone says that they feel worthless, or they aren鈥檛 doing enough, or that they are wasting their lives or their time, I always respond with 鈥榶ou are enough, you are loved, you are worthy.鈥� 鈥� I mean, if God thinks that we are loveable enough to die for, who am I to contradict God.

In this time we have now, perhaps the best use we could make of it is to again try to learn to 鈥榖e鈥� instead of 鈥榙o鈥�. We have created a society where people seem to be given value on the basis of their career, or their employment, or what they own. If there鈥檚 anything this pandemic is showing, it鈥檚 that none of that matters to a virus. Nor should it matter to us 鈥� the way we look at, and think of, or care for one another should only be based on the value we have simply for being 鈥榰s鈥�.听听

Perhaps if anything we could just spend this time practising self-care, and 鈥榮oul care鈥� 鈥� recognising that taking time out of the usual offers us opportunity to see again those things which are truly important to us. It can give us the chance to see again the value of those we share our lives with, and to remember the value of those we can鈥檛 see in person at this time.听

Many of us, despite our usual routines being shattered, still find ourselves working and fitting in so much to our days 鈥撎齛nd frontline workers, grocery store staff, First Responders, caterers, farmers, clergy, and more 鈥� the disruption of our usual patterns can often create ways of seeing things differently. We may not have hours in which to contemplate and reflect, but in having everything else turned upside-down, we have the chance to think about those things we truly value and wish to keep hold of.

Some who have talked about this pandemic, including me in my Easter Day sermon, have said 鈥淣othing will every be the same.鈥� That might be true. certainly some things will not be the same and some things will take a long time to be anything like we might have called 鈥榥ormal鈥�, but unless we figure out for ourselves what really matters, how people really matter, and how we can celebrate the value of all people, then we might find that we quickly slip back into the patterns and practise that brought us to this place to begin with. And that might, after all, be time and experience wasted.

Spending time well The Ven. Alastair McCollum听is Rector of St. John the Divine Anglican Church in Victoria and听Archdeacon, Diocese of Islands and Inlets.听He has a passion for the Gospel, motorbikes and bike culture, worship, philosophy, theology, guitars, single malt whisky, real ale, cinema and all things French.听You can find Alastair at the听church website:听and听on his blog:听