by Bruce Schlenke
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By the calendar we are officially halfway through winter. You are now correctly dating your personal checks. Punxsutawney Phil is warmly back in his lair. Where is the year going already? Where do the years go? Does time really fly? I’ve thought of a few plausible reasons for time actually going faster, which could possibly answer our queries about the mystery of time’s passage. Let’s see now. . .
Perhaps we are having more fun each successive year; we all know time flies when you’re … .Or maybe one of those old philosophers was on to something: time may actually be
accelerating at a rate that our nerve endings ‘feel’ but which our scientific instruments cannot measure. And then there is the thought that too much thinking ahead and planning for the future may distract us to the point of hardly living in the present and thus missing much of it. But also, people say that children are growing up faster these days; well then, it just might be that our kids are driving the universe after all. Or maybe we’re just taking longer naps.
Yes, it’s another new year. How fast will this one keep flying by? Life is fleeting according to the Psalm writer in his 90th: “For a thousand years in your sight, [O Lord], are but as yesterday when it is past or as a watch in the night.” (Psalm 90:4) So does that mean this new year of 2017 will come and then be gone as fast as or faster than the one past? Perhaps. Nonetheless, these 12 months with their 365 days newly given to us have to count for something more than just fun and naps. The psalmist continues: “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” (90:12) Each day of each year, no matter how fleeting or whatever its numeral, is significant to the Kingdom of God. Our commitment of self, our gifts of service to God and His body, the church, and to other persons count.
Another year has begun and is moving swiftly, yet still fresh and new and certainly His. Do not sleep through it or give up driving its path. Use your days to find God’s heart. Live wisely from start to finish.
2018 is coming fast. Maybe faster … !
