Time Travel: What is your target? Part I

Time is something that has been on my mind a lot lately.

Recently our dog died.  My wife had surgery to repair a tendon after falling in a hole three months ago.  During both of these events the clock kept spinning.  It is funny because even as I type these words on Blogger I pause to reflect on the words I've just typed.  There isn't a pause button for me to hit so the clock continues to spin and that spinning isn't felt by you the reader unless I mention it here on the pages of my blog.  My point?  What is my point?  You must take it on faith that there is feeling in each and every word I put on this page.  Some words are more painful and difficult to type than others.  As you read this (I hope you read to the end) you will be bringing your own thoughts and experiences to this blog.  Maybe you have had similar experiences and if you have had some degree of those experiences I hope this blog gives you comfort in your time of grief and sadness.

Time.  What is it?

The first view of Time:  It is a fixed point or series of points that have been going on for centuries (some faith is involved here because no one I know or have even heard of on earth today was there when the first second, minute, or hour passed by on the clock).  The beginning and end are unclear and what you choose to do as the clock spins may or may not have any significant value for anyone other than you.

The second view of Time: It was constructed by the God of the Bible.  Realizing that maybe you haven't read the Bible or been given the Biblical view of God I will pause here and explain how God reveals himself in the Bible.  God is a Trinity.  God has three unique and separate persons in the same being.  God is Father, Son / Jesus, and Holy Spirit. God and all that he is and does will fill more space than Blogger would allow me to use and wouldn't do accurate justice to who the person of God is.  Please leave a comment if you would like to talk further about God and the personhood/personal God is.  References to God creating time are found in Genesis and the Acts of the Apostles:

• Genesis 1:5: “God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.”
• Acts 1:7: “He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.”

So with that brief description of time,  why is it important to talk or think about time, especially if your mind is made up about time?  It is that very question that drove me out of blogging stagnation and inactivity.

Everyone who reads this text has something in common.  We (me included) is destined to leave planet earth. Mom if your reading this please excuse for my bluntness but we will all die.

• Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 “1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;”

Okay, so I've reached common ground with the human race.  We will all die, and where I needed to or not I've included a verse from the Bible to prove that I agree with the Bible here too.

At this point I'm going to break.  This is Part I of "Time Travel: What is Your Target".

Please come back for Part II of "Time Travel: What is Your Target.  In the second part of this blog we leave our commonalities behind us and we make choices.  Choices of how we will spend our ride here on planet earth watching the clock spin.  

Color Your World

Writing in Marker Instead of Pencil

How many people have you had contact with today?  Do you know?  More than likely if you were out of your living space you have interacted with more people than you think.  Scratch that thought, if you are on any type of social media platforms you can raise the number of people you interact with in a moment’s notice without leaving your home.  So, in your life are you writing in permanent marker or pencil?  It makes a great difference. 

“What difference does it make?” you might be asking yourself.  In my mind there are no such things as random or chance meetings.  Yes, I believe that there is a reason for each and every person in your life today.  Acknowledging them, simply glancing at them, having a conversation in an elevator with them, cutting them off in traffic, or living with them makes no difference you have left a painted their life.

In the first example you may have been crossing the street and as you are going east a person is coming toward you going west.  Did you smile, keep a straight face, give them a look of indifference?  Let’s go back to your time on the elevator today.  When you saw the door open and someone either left the elevator or joined you on the elevator.  What was your expression then?  Were your arms crossed in a sign that denotes you are deep in thought so please don’t bother me?  Or were you open glancing giving the other person a smile?  Moving in traffic, where you either cut someone off by accident or intentionally or maybe the situation is reversed you were cut off by accident or intentionally.  What was your body, facial, spoken language at that time?  And finally, maybe you live with someone who leaves for work before you do.  Likewise, they may go to school, no matter where they were going what was the interaction like?

In all of the above examples, writing in pencil means that the interaction can be as easily forgotten as it can be remembered.  Writing or better yet coloring in permanent marker gives us each the opportunity to help that person have a better day filled with grace and love or the opposite might be true.

This question resonates with me in a fantastic way as I write to you today.  Several times my life has been colored with beautiful colors.  For example, my wife and I have been engaging with a new church after having moved many miles.  The people have been great the colors so vibrant I would like to call them family instead of just people in my life.  In addition, today my wife was in the hospital today.  We were met with many different people of different professions.  From the greeters, the administrative staff, nurses, and doctors.  Again our lives were colored with very vibrant colors.  Our lives are better for having them in our lives and our experiences were much better of course as you might expect. 

In all of these interactions, I am left in awe of a God who created the Universe and who cares for you and me and puts people in our lives for a reason. 

Color in vibrant permanent marker you will find that those around you will be left with a beautiful picture and the colors will even spill on to your canvas and you will be left with a beautiful picture as well.