Wasted Time

When I was a child, my father chided me about wasting time. “Put that book down,” he would say. “Do something useful.” That admonition still resonates in my life. In fact, I find satisfaction in filling up those little squares in my day-timer. My life has purpose when I’m busy. I do my best to stop and listen when someone comes to me with concerns. I try to visit shut-ins and friends. When someone is needed for a task, I volunteer. My family knows that I can be depended on to come in an emergency. I try to use the gifts God has given me to spread God’s Word of love. I have often declared, “Come judgment day, God will have a long list of my failures, but at least God will know that I didn’t waste God’s precious gift of time.”

Lately, I’ve had some second thoughts about my use of time. Maybe God has the following questions for me and for all of us:

 “How much time do you set aside for caring for yourself? That amazing body I created for you needs sleep, exercise, fun.

 “How much time do you waste worrying about things that never happened, or things you can’t change? Do you trust me?”

“How much time do you waste complaining about your problems, lamenting about what you don’t have or can’t do? Do you ever count your blessings?”

“When you do rest, do you fill your mind with kind, loving and peaceful thoughts? Think about the books you read, movies you see, video games you play. Do you waste your moments of rest?”

Maybe God is saying, “I give you twenty-four precious hours. Yes, you care for others, but yourself? I’m not so sure. Seems like there’s been time wasted there. You’ve got a few days, months, years left, make some changes, now. Remember you are valuable. Use your time wisely.

“For God created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (Psalm 139: 13-14)

Lent

A friend of mine has been looking for work. The process is slow, and depressing. With each disappointment, frustration and fear mounted. Job hunting is tough. In January, she greeted me with a smile on her face and determination in her soul. “I’ve decided to use this miserable limbo time to care for myself,” she said. “I’ve joined a gym. I’ve met with my trainer and laid out a program of diet and exercise to strengthen my body. Being unemployed I can exercise every day. After two weeks, I’m feeling much better. My spirits have lifted. I have more energy. I’ve added prayer to the program so my hope has returned. I’ve decided to trust God with my future. I’m using this time to prepare. I’ll be ready for the job when it comes.

During the season of Lent, Christians set aside forty days leading up to Easter to care for our souls. Like my friend, we join the program. We spend time talking with God our trainer. We look at our lives, the times we’ve hurt others, the unnecessary luxuries we enjoyed while others went hungry, the things we intended to do but didn’t. Beginning with the service of ashes, we’re marked with the sign of Christ’s cross, a symbol of our repentance. As we journey through those forty days, the program can involve giving up something that we particularly like, not to punish ourselves but to help us focus on giving up our selfish ways. The days lengthen. The light and warmth of spring warms our souls. As we slowly accept God’s forgiveness, our minds clear, our guilt recedes. We’re on the road of thanksgiving. By the time we get to Easter, and the joy of the resurrection we’re ready to celebrate. Our faith is stronger, we’ve begun a new way of living.

“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!  (Matthew 6:22-23 NKJV)                                                                    

World Day of Prayer

           Each person is unique. Our DNA belongs only to us, and when necessary can be used to identify us, in the midst of all the people in this world. Yet, just as the individual unique snowflakes belong to the snow family, so do we belong to the human family. We may come in different sizes and colours, and with differing gifts and beliefs, but we are still one as children of God.

            Almost two weeks ago Christians around the world gathered to pray for justice and forgiveness in the human family. We name this day “The World Day of Prayer.” Starting at sunrise in the far east, and ending at sunset in the far west, regardless of our skin colour, nationality or economic status, we come together with one request for God. Please, empower us, teach us, show us how to live together in love and justice.  

            As I prayed in Dunsford with people from the three churches of our area, I pictured a huge tidal wave of love, thousands of stories high, rising out of the ocean of humanity, bringing with it a desire for peace and justice in our hurting world.

Can you see it? Can you feel it? Just as the wave at a baseball game picks up and blasts the stadium with excitement and energy, so also does this worldwide wave of prayer, blast the world with mercy and love. It is good that we do this every year. We need to remember that we are called to pray for peace and justice, not just on the first Friday of March, but every day of the year. I invite you to join the wave. Pray for unity and healing in our world. Turn on the power of prayer.

Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

People of the Book

“Your life may be the only Bible that someone else reads.” For me that’s a mighty intimidating statement, yet in today’s world, it carries an element of truth. Society has great expectations of those of us who are identified as Christians. They want us to live good lives. They want us to be caring. They want to set us apart as special. Our faith is supposed to have transformed us, to have made a difference in how we live. When we fail to live up to those expectations, society labels us hypocrites.

            As Christians, we know we’re not perfect. We try to do what we think God expects of us. We know we often fail. Like everyone, we live busy lives. Things overwhelm us. There are people that we find easy to love, but also people we wish we had never met. We know living our faith isn’t easy.

When I’m faced with someone whose sharp words have made deep gashes in my soul, I don’t want to offer forgiveness. When I hear about terrorists planting yet another bomb, or rival gangs killing an innocent bystander, I feel anger and disgust. I don’t want to see these perpetrators of violence as God’s beloved children.

When we read the Bible carefully, we learn that the Biblical characters were just like us. They, too made mistakes. At times, they were accepting and caring. At times, they deliberately weren’t. Most of the time, they knew that God was with them, pushing, prodding, trying to lead them.

Saying the words, “Lord, I believe” is not enough. Being a Christian means hearing the Word and being transformed by it. Transformation is a slow process. We often wobble back and forth between God’s way and our way. On our best days, with God’s help, we do become God’s Word for others. We truly are people of the Book.

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:14-17)

Does Anyone Still Pray?

Besides grandparents and ministers does anyone still pray? A teen submitted this question to the United Church Observer. It’s dogged my thoughts for the last week.

            My first answer is yes, of course people of all ages still pray. My friends, some of whom are teens, some in their thirties and forties, pray regularly. They ask for God’s help concerning exams, crises and life in general. Probably, the main reason I know they pray is that I am a retired United Church minister. They feel safe in telling me. Also, my friends tend to be people who attend church, or sing in the Gospel Choir. Prayer is a part of their personal culture. What about the rest of the world?

            When we listen to the news, we learn that all over the world people of every religion pray at least in a formal way. That’s why churches, mosques, synagogues and temples are popular targets for terrorists. I’m sure if we had the opportunity to interview them, even the terrorists would say that they pray.

            There is no shortage of prayer in this world. Lots of us talk with God every day. We plead with God. We bargain with God. We give thanks to God. Sometimes, when frustration or pain overwhelms us, we yell at God. The problem is that we often fail to recognize that prayer is a conversation.

A real conversation requires listening. Maybe the question is, “Does anyone listen to God today?” In the Bible, we are often told to listen to God. In Moses’ words we hear, “Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to God’s voice, and hold fast to God. For the LORD is your life, …  (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)

Begin incorporating listening in your prayers. Be assured, God does speak today.

Faith Questions

I'm interested in starting a discussion group around faith questions. Please leave your faith question in the comment space. Blessings Janet