I am wasting time.
I didn't know that was what I was doing until my husband decided to tell me. "Get this boy off to school!" he shouts down the stairs. I am currently formulating a well worded message to his algebra teacher, who is under the impression that taking an algebra test over again without any studying in between can improve the score. "Why isn't this boy out the door yet?!" comes the next hurled query. "He is not feeling well," is my answer. "Quit wasting time and get him in the car!" is the unstudied response.
I can feel my ire begin to rise. "Wasting time." I have just read that my son can take the proffered redo test at a later date, if necessary. I am taking the time to communicate to his teacher by email just why it may not be a good idea for him to take it today, choosing my words carefully. "Wasting time." Right.
I am wasting time now. My son is definitely not going to make it to school today, so when I have finished the message and sent it on its way to the unsuspecting, unenlightened algebra teacher, I stay a while to connect with friends on Facebook. I'm wasting time.
One friend asks if my husband is on Facebook. "What a joke!" I think. I inform her that he considers socializing "wasting time". I waste some more time socializing with some more friends on Facebook. Dear people from long, long ago who live far, far away. These are people who are precious to my soul and with whom I would rarely converse otherwise, because time and distance steals familiarity. But they are gems in my treasure box I am not willing to give up soon, after at long last contacting them in this newfangled way that brings them so close every day. So I waste some more time.
In about 15 minutes of wasted time I turn my Facebook page to searching out references to Brother Lawrence, with whom I have recently become acquainted and whose writings I am beginning to read. This is soul food. But "wasting time" is all some will see in it.
Some plan every minute of every day full of work. "There is way too much too be done," they say, "to relax and enjoy myself even for five minutes!" I have tried that way of life. It is not for me. Others conduct their days according to this motto: "If you want a thing done right, you have to do it yourself." And they want everything done "right" - that is, according to their specifications. So of course there is never time to interject anything pleasant, relaxing, or soul filling into their day. The work must be done! None of this time wasting Facebook stuff for them!
Why, next thing you know, you could be sitting in front of the screen all day, actually communicating with people you haven't seen since 3rd grade or something. That might lead to conversations that could unleash forgotten hurts, guilt, or longings you had buried under mountains of living to forget. Yeah, you don't have time to deal with all that stuff. Push it further under!
Or you might meet someone interesting who could help you along your way, like a businessman or woman say, who could become so interested in what you do they offer to fund your next project. Then what would you have to complain about?
No, better stay the island you've been all these years, plodding alone through your day, complaining about how poorly everyone else does his or her job on the way, nursing your old wounds, relying on your old addictions, never wasting any time making or keeping friends. That's far easier, because then you know you have everything under control and you know exactly what tomorrow will look like and you have nothing to worry about, not even wasting time.
But that's not me. I love "wasting time" being in community with friends and family. They are the life's blood of my existence. I was born an extremely social creature, and I have always chosen to remain so. I have given up careers to remain so. I have given up fame to remain so. I will always be so, thanks be to God the Creator.
So please don't try and tell me I'm wasting time, when what I am doing is being in communion, something consecrated by our Lord in the Upper Room around 2000 years ago. If you think I am wasting time, try holding yourself up to His standard, and see which lifestyle seems most like His.
And if you decide "wasting time" is something that could benefit your life, come on over to my Facebook page. I'll be glad to "friend" you.
Simply yours,
Patty
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?v=feed&id=1434576718
I am wasting time.
I didn't know that was what I was doing until my husband decided to tell me. "Get this boy off to school!" he shouts down the stairs. I am currently formulating a well worded message to his algebra teacher, who is under the impression that taking an algebra test over again without any studying in between can improve the score. "Why isn't this boy out the door yet?!" comes the next hurled query. "He is not feeling well," is my answer. "Quit wasting time and get him in the car!" is the unstudied response.
I can feel my ire begin to rise. "Wasting time." I have just read that my son can take the proffered redo test at a later date, if necessary. I am taking the time to communicate to his teacher by email just why it may not be a good idea for him to take it today, choosing my words carefully. "Wasting time." Right.
I am wasting time now. My son is definitely not going to make it to school today, so when I have finished the message and sent it on its way to the unsuspecting, unenlightened algebra teacher, I stay a while to connect with friends on Facebook. I'm wasting time.
One friend asks if my husband is on Facebook. "What a joke!" I think. I inform her that he considers socializing "wasting time". I waste some more time socializing with some more friends on Facebook. Dear people from long, long ago who live far, far away. These are people who are precious to my soul and with whom I would rarely converse otherwise, because time and distance steals familiarity. But they are gems in my treasure box I am not willing to give up soon, after at long last contacting them in this newfangled way that brings them so close every day. So I waste some more time.
In about 15 minutes of wasted time I turn my Facebook page to searching out references to Brother Lawrence, with whom I have recently become acquainted and whose writings I am beginning to read. This is soul food. But "wasting time" is all some will see in it.
Some plan every minute of every day full of work. "There is way too much too be done," they say, "to relax and enjoy myself even for five minutes!" I have tried that way of life. It is not for me. Others conduct their days according to this motto: "If you want a thing done right, you have to do it yourself." And they want everything done "right" - that is, according to their specifications. So of course there is never time to interject anything pleasant, relaxing, or soul filling into their day. The work must be done! None of this time wasting Facebook stuff for them!
Why, next thing you know, you could be sitting in front of the screen all day, actually communicating with people you haven't seen since 3rd grade or something. That might lead to conversations that could unleash forgotten hurts, guilt, or longings you had buried under mountains of living to forget. Yeah, you don't have time to deal with all that stuff. Push it further under!
Or you might meet someone interesting who could help you along your way, like a businessman or woman say, who could become so interested in what you do they offer to fund your next project. Then what would you have to complain about?
No, better stay the island you've been all these years, plodding alone through your day, complaining about how poorly everyone else does his or her job on the way, nursing your old wounds, relying on your old addictions, never wasting any time making or keeping friends. That's far easier, because then you know you have everything under control and you know exactly what tomorrow will look like and you have nothing to worry about, not even wasting time.
But that's not me. I love "wasting time" being in community with friends and family. They are the life's blood of my existence. I was born an extremely social creature, and I have always chosen to remain so. I have given up careers to remain so. I have given up fame to remain so. I will always be so, thanks be to God the Creator.
So please don't try and tell me I'm wasting time, when what I am doing is being in communion, something consecrated by our Lord in the Upper Room around 2000 years ago. If you think I am wasting time, try holding yourself up to His standard, and see which lifestyle seems most like His.
And if you decide "wasting time" is something that could benefit your life, come on over to my Facebook page. I'll be glad to "friend" you.
Simply yours,
Patty
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?v=feed&id=1434576718
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