Enough Time
FROM THE RECTOR
In six days, God made the universe and all that is in it—day and night, sun and moon, fish and birds, plants, animals and humankind. Then, when God was finished, God rested. Woven into the very fabric of how we understand God and God’s relationship to creation is sabbath rest. Six days were enough for everything to be made. Instead of spreading out the creation story to completely fill a week, God finished with time to spare. The extra day—the seventh—was blessed and hallowed because on that day God rested.
In your life, is rest easy to find or hard to come by? Is that extra time for spiritual, physical, and relational renewal something that you have successfully worked into your schedule, or is it something that consistently eludes you?
Lately in my own life, I have noticed a creeping sense that I do not have enough time. I feel like I am pushing hard to get through each day, and still every night there is more left undone. Some of that is because this is a busy time in the life of our church. Our staff has worked hard getting ready for Lent, and soon we will be focused on Easter, and, not long after that, we will be getting ready for the bishop’s visit and for the end of the academic year. It never stops. Maybe that sounds like a description of your life as well.
A bigger issue than the busyness of the season, though, is how I spend my time each day, especially first thing in the morning. Instead of beginning with a practice that instills in me the confidence that each day will contain enough time to do all that needs to get done, I start my day trying to get ahead—trying to fit in a little bit more than the day is able to hold. When I should be sitting in quiet, enjoying that first cup of coffee and centering my spirit in God’s presence, I start by checking my email, either catching up on what was not sent the night before or hoping to clear out some messages before I get to the office. I get up extra early not to go for a run but to write my next newsletter article because I have convinced myself that I need to manage every minute efficiently or else I will run out of time.
How ridiculous! How normal! Believing that, when life gets busy, the best thing you can do is set aside some time to do nothing is nearly impossible, yet carving out that sacred space in your day is critical. When we begin with the enormity of the demands on our time instead of the abundance of time we have to meet those demands, we will never have enough. Developing the confidence that each day will give you as much time as you need to do all that needs to be done takes practice—deep, intentional, spiritual practice.
Ultimately, it is a question of stewardship. Although time is something I rarely feel like I have enough of, money is something I do not worry about. Over the years, Elizabeth and I have developed the practice of setting aside a significant, first-fruits portion of our income for God’s work in our lives and in the world. Doing so has taught me to trust that, when it comes to finances, we will always have enough. If I want to feel the same thing about the time I have been given, I need to become intentional about the stewardship of my time. I need to return to the practice of setting aside a significant, first-fruits portion of my day for God’s presence in my life.
Finding enough time each day is not easy. A belief in the abundance of time does not mean that extra time will present itself without any effort on your part. It means getting up earlier but spending that time in prayer. It means setting aside time each night for meaningful conversation instead of television. It means waiting to check your email until you get to work and leaving the office in time to go for a walk with your spouse. All of that is time you could spend doing other stuff, and devoting that time to spiritual renewal means you will either have to work harder or smarter or accomplish less. But deciding to budget two or three hours each day—around ten percent—to God can change everything. It opens up the rest of the day with the insight that whatever you have been given is always enough.
Imagine going to bed every night looking forward to what the next day will bring instead of worrying about whether you will have enough time to get everything done. That feeling starts with how we approach our day from the moment we wake up. It comes from being intentional about how we use the time God gives us and giving enough back to God that all the hours of our day are shaped by that fundamental relationship—by our belonging to the one who has given us time in abundance. In God, there will always be enough. We just need to learn how to recognize it.
Yours Faithfully,
Evan