Seeker,

What would you do if only you had more time?

 

Time is not yours to keep.

None can contain the ungraspable,

ever-flowing moments that slip through your fingers.

 

So how do you hold

the time you’ve been given

without holding onto it?

 

Perhaps the liberating question is not;

How much time do you HAVE?

but rather; How much time will you GIVE?

 

Whether jolted by shock, stunned by awe, or broken by tragedy,

we enter the temple of timelessness

the moment we unclench, and let time flow over us.

 

We find ourselves saying:

“I just got carried away…”

or “I lost track of time…”

 

So, if it is not ours for the keeping,

or the tracking, then what,

or who is time for?

 

Could it be that we are here—

in the glow of the now—

for the giving, the release of love?

 

What if time

is for the loving,

which really means the loosing and letting go?

 

But take care! When you get carried away,

and dare to deface the clock,

the current will detour, disorient, even unseat you.

 

Have you ever observed the rapids,

and those brave souls

who navigate white waters?

 

Up-ended by exhilaration, drenched breathless in terror,

you learn that control is love’s nemesis,

till you have to let yourself be borne away.

 

In the tempestuous ocean of time and toil

there are islands of stillness where (we) may enter

a harbor and reclaim (our) dignity.

Abraham Heschel

 

Some will surely say

you know this is

no way to run your life.

 

But knowing

you don’t know

is the really just the beginning of wisdom.

 

Learning you cannot control the current

marks the start

of your downward cascade into maturity.

 

After all, being efficient is not a gospel value:

“Blessed are the timely, for they will surely get more done…

…only to find that there is evermore to do!”

 

Called to fruitful living,

you are not bound

by the tariffs of productivity.

 

For who can measure

the span of compassion

or weigh the worth of love?

 

Love that swims only in deep time,

far below the surface ripples and rages

of affection and infatuation.

 

The deeper the love,

the greater the cost,

the more time it makes.

 

“…love is that condition in the human spirit so profound

that it allows us to forgive.

And it may be the energy which keeps the stars in the firmament,

I’m not sure.

It may be the energy which keeps the blood running through our veins,

I’m not sure.

But it’s something beyond explanation, which can be used

for any good thing you can’t explain.….”

Maya Angelou.

 When it comes to time,

is it not always a question

of quality over quantity?

 

Deep within you know

that your days are numbered,

and your breaths are limited.

 

Rather than retreat into lukewarm living

or slip into soul-slumbering,

you can choose to love the time given you.

 

Decide to deliberately slow down!

Live into your days

with patient urgency,

 

and learn how to savor

rather than fruitlessly

trying to save time.

 

Don’t you already have

all the time you really need,

to live and love and care deeply?

 

joe