The Clock Doesn’t Stop

Tick tock, tick tock

The clock doesn’t stop.

Tick tock, tick tock

The clock doesn’t stop.

When you’re always on the go,

You want the clock to go slow.

When you want time to go fast,

The seconds seem to last, and last, and last.

Tick tock, tick tock

The clock doesn’t stop.

First of all, I want to apologize for being away from the blog for so long. Ever since my move it seems that I have no time at all. There is definitely not enough time to do all the nothing that I want to do. I honestly haven’t figured it out yet.

If you have children, the difference in time is easily apparent. If you don’t have children, and even if you do, remember when waiting for anything took f-o-r-e-v-e-r. A ten minute wait was an eternity. Ever tried to ask a child to wait patiently, it might last about 30 – seconds. C’mon, we were the same way when we were young. We wanted the days to last forever, refusing to go to sleep until the power of Morpheus overcame us.

It really doesn’t seem fair, does it; when we are enjoying something or just plain busy, time slips by, sometimes unnoticed. Just last Saturday I got out of bed at 8am and in a blink of an eye it was 11am. Then we went to the store and suddenly it was 2pm. I wish my days at work went that fast sometimes.

So what is time? God and the spiritual realm operate outside time. Jesus told his disciples that He would return in a “little while.” That was about 2,000 years ago. If the spiritual realm does have time, it must be much different than our own.

Is time merely an illusion? I am experiencing time, or at least I think I am. I am here in the present. I am aware of the past. I hope for the future. The next minute will be my present in about 60 seconds. Why does the time move steadily on the clock but my experience of time fluctuates so wildly. Why is the shortest period of time I experience occur between 5:30PM on Friday and 5:30AM on Monday. My weekends slip by. How can I grip time, hold the reins, and slow the clock?

As we live, we see time around us in nature. The sun rises, reaches it height at noon and the sun sets. We see the seasons come and go. We watch children grow. So we all realize that time is passing, even without looking at a clock or calendar. We are all given but 24 hours. The only time we really have is the present, the now. Look down at your feet. That is where you are. These moments are precious and they need to be appreciated. It is so easy to get caught up in the act of living that we forget how to live. I am guilty of this more often than I would like. I try to remind myself to slow down, smell the coffee, taste the bacon, enjoy the life that I have been granted. It takes time to hear the quiet, to see the world around us, to sense the stillness that brings peace to one’s heart.

To learn why I am so busy and where my time goes now, I must slow down and reflect. My job is incredibly busy and time consuming and so is creating a home for my new family. I think that I will rest after this writing and seek out the stillness that brings peace. I hope that you can do the same.

Take care, stay well, and be safe.

How do you define yourself?

What do you think of yourself? How do you define yourself? How are you defined? We are all defined, and we define others. He’s my accountant, she’s my doctor, he’s that guy that always yells at the neighbors. We all do it. But I want to say to you that when you define yourself, you may just be limiting who you are.

I do the same thing most people do. When I am asked to tell about myself, usually the first thing I tell is my occupation. That is how we usually define ourselves. A few years ago, I had gotten very sick and missed many weeks of work. I was very upset that I might not be able to go back to my job. I defined myself by my work. I did not stop to think that I had value beyond my work. I prayed for strength and patience. But then I realized that I am much more than my job. I am: a son of God, a disciple, a father, a son, a brother, an uncle, a friend, a writer, a reader, a student of life, a student of the Bible, a lover, a man. There were so many ways to define myself. This helped me look at the future more positively. Even if I could not return to my occupation, I would find something else to do.

Some people define themselves by their possessions. They are imprisoned by their quest to impress people they don’t even know. They always worry about what someone might think about them. What a terrible burden to have. How can you please people you don’t even know? How do you even know what will please them?

You have very little impact on how other people define you. You are in complete control in how you define yourself. Give yourself credit for the talents and gifts that you have. Cut yourself some slack for the failings you have and the mistakes you might have made. Think about who you are to others and let all those things define you. Concentrating on just one area can limit your potential. Now that you are thinking about all your relationships with others and all your talents and gifts, how do you define yourself?