Wednesday Wonder

Time flies when you’re having fun.

My mother used to say that all the time, especially if I ever complained that I was bored or something was taking too long. The day would go faster if I found something interesting to do or the wait wouldn’t seem so long if I was doing something I liked while waiting. This is why I keep ebooks accessible on my phone. I love to read and time does fly when I am doing it.

This phrase came to mind yesterday. Damon, my grandson, turned two yesterday! Two years old already! Seems only moments ago we were still anticipating his arrival. I was reminded earlier this week that it had been two years since my covenanting service at Kingsview. Damon was the reason my son and daughter-in-law couldn’t be at the service. Damon arrived early and gave them an excuse. Some people will do anything to get out of going to church!

As much as my mother’s use of the phrase would perturb me, it really does seem true at times. The first two years of Damon’s life have flown by and it has been fun to watch and take part in his growing and development. Always feels like someone sped up the clock when I visit him. I arrive early in the morning and in no time his parents will announce it is nap time. What?! But we were just getting started playing. In my head, “Just five more minutes,” said in that whiny tone we all had as children. I don’t say it out loud because Damon is such a mimic that it might be a habit he picks up, and he really does usually need a nap, and so does Granny by then. But the time has gone by more quickly than expected.

Time is a human construct, of course. We who live by the clock are more aware of its passing than others might be. There was a time when people had their days governed not by the face of a clock, but by the movement of the sun. Rise with the sun, work until you need some sustenance then rest and sleep when the sun goes down. Maybe some of you have the freedom to live more like that in your days. My alarm clock does not sound like a rooster and this time of year it often summons me before the run rises.

Methuselah is said to have lived 969 years. He is the oldest person mentioned in the Bible. They must have measured time differently then. Even if a year is the equivalent of what we consider a month it would have meant he was over 80. Life expectancy was not known to be that high back then. When did we start to want to keep track of how many trips around the sun we had made? And when do we get to stop? These days many of us want to stop counting at a certain point. My grandmother was just shy of her 100th birthday when she died. She never expected to live that long. I seem to remember her mentioning Methuselah a time or two.

What my Granny also mentioned was how time seemed to slow down day to day. When you are unable to go out and do things the days feel longer. I will agree with that. Days lying in a hospital bed could feel very long. Thank goodness for those ebooks on my phone! And yet, my Granny also said time had flown by. The years seemed to disappear so quickly. I guess it is all a matter of perspective.

Science tells us that if our brains are engaged, if we are learning or experiencing a variety of things, then time will feel as though it passes more quickly. If we are not engaged then the opposite seems true. Anyone who has had to stand in line with nothing to distract them would probably say this is true. Waiting often makes me wish we didn’t track time as we do. Sometimes I am sure the minute hand moved backward. (All those who are used to digital clocks will have to excuse the archaic reference. I have travelled much around the sun.)

The amazing thing about time is that God sees it differently than we do. God sees the expanse of time that is impossible for we humans to grasp. God sees the big picture that we are standing too close to so that the edges are not visible. Whether long or short, our time is our time. We live it within both the human structures and God’s vision. No matter how much time we have, it can fly by, or it can slow down.

I would like for it to slow down when it comes to time spent with Damon. But there were days during the last couple of years I would have loved to have had speed by. It is all the same time. The saying goes that a 1000 years is but a day in God’s sight. Some days it would be nice for it to seem that way to us too. Imagine all that time doing what you love with the ones you love. But alas, we humans don’t keep track that way.

So, if I only have 168 hours in this thing called a week, I better make each one count. Time flies when we are having fun. It sure does. Are we having fun today?