Time is on my side!
Another summer is over and as I am now well past, half way through my three (or tree as my dear Irish friends say) score years and ten, I can appreciate the old saying that time flies.  Certainly as I mature (gracefully) it seems time is passing at a tremendous pace.  The inner me, which still feels young and vital, doesn’t look quite so good in the mirror, and the body seems less willing in its obedience of my requests. It is all very well to say time does not exist, and in truth it does not; however my experience at this moment, is time in this world is very real. !

 I have spent some of the summer reflecting on this passage of time and realised that there are 2 kinds; Human time and Divine time.  The Human time is all the rushing, all the wasted chatting, gossiping, self indulgence; the Divine time is infinite, timeless.  Here on earth we make an effort to connect with Divinity by using our time, yet here is the paradox, when we focus on the Divine, we connect with eternity; in that moment all aging ceases, all pain is gone and all fear disappears.  When we focus on our human life then pain, fear and aging are inevitable.  This is not to say that we do not engage in human life, but it is important to set time aside each day for connection with our God.

God continually gives us time.  Think of those times in life when an appointment cancelled; when a friend couldn’t make it; when you are stuck in a traffic jam; waiting at airports, lounging in a chair; these are times God gives you to connect with eternity; those precious moments in the day that we so often waste. If you do not give time to your God how can he give time to you?  He is your creator, the giver of life and yet we assume our busy life is more important.  It is essential for our wellbeing that we spend a few moments every day, then eventually every hour to connect with our God; to pray, or to hold a mantra, to bring the eternal into our daily life.

Think about the ways that you use your time and think about ways you could use it more effectively.  Every time we gossip, we age; every time we pray sincerely we become eternal.  Do not accuse others of wasting your time, only you can do that. We waste our time by not using it to remind ourselves of the sacredness of life.  Time is a limitation we impose on ourselves in order to learn to use our time effectively and wholesomely, just as we are limited by the physical body.  It is only through limitation that we can set ourselves free.  Limitation and struggle make us strong in spirit, give us focus and resolve to find a better way; that way is the way of the soul which is limitless.

I have spent a lot of time waiting in airports, train stations; for clients, and I have learnt not to complain about them being late; or in the case of the latter, not arriving.  It is a gift from God, so that I can sit quietly and feel his breath on my existence.  I cannot feel this breeze of peace in the busyness of life, but only in the stillness of my heart.

I am writing this because a client did not arrive, I could have gone back to bed; I could have done the ironing; cleaned up, rung a friend, sat with a coffee and read the paper; cursed and got angry.  Instead I sat and meditated and through that was inspired to write these words.  Looking back at when my children were young and at how hard it was to find time for myself; let alone God; I realise that instead of rushing how much better would my time have been spent being with God.  Through this I would have found peace, been less frantic, more loving, more patient and more compassionate towards others and myself.  Then the cleaning would have been a joy instead of a chore.

Wasting time is wasting  life, learn to use the little time we have here wisely, and amazingly you will find that when we bring God into our daily life, we have so much more time.  

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