It's time
Figure out for what, and get to it
Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, 16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5.15-16)
It’s the 45th week of 2023, how time passes more quickly than it once did! Fugit inreparabile tempus, wrote Virgil: It escapes, irretrievable time.
The most memorable passage in the book of Ecclesiastes (3.1-8) describes the idea of a proper time for every activity: birth and death, planting and harvesting, tearing down and building up, weeping and laughing, finding and losing, silence and speech, etc. The wiser we become, the more we recognize the power of the season. We start to speak, then bite our tongues when we realize it’s the time for silence. We almost dredge up a previous argument, but we stop when we recognize it’s time to let go. A facet of wisdom is discerning times.
The corollary to distinguishing the times is making the most of them as they’re discerned. There’s a season for learning, putting down solid foundations, in which it’s important to invest a lot of energy in gaining knowledge and experience. But then there’s the season for passing along the knowledge and experience we’ve gained. In one season we have mentors, in the next we may be mentors. In one season we may work to meet our needs and those of our families; in the next we may focus on generosity.
We pity those who get the seasons wrong: The man who tries to teach without having spent time learning, the woman who holds on to things when the time for releasing them has passed.
Consider what season you’re in and conduct yourself accordingly!
Laying faith’s foundations
Sharing the fruits of a mature Christian life
Busy parents with few chances to take a breath
Empty nesters with newly found time to spare
Faithful givers to the ministry of the church
Late-in-life benefactors with abundant resources for generosity
Collecting
Downsizing
Making friends
Maintaining friendships
Etc.