“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
Time is a gift, a gift over which we have no control. Only God knows our days and every day he gives us is precious. As Tolkien writes, it is not ours to choose our days, but we do choose what we do with them. What are we doing with the time given to us? What am I doing with the time given to me?
Ponder on the follow two poems.
Life is a Breath
That fatal on the freeway
I was two cars behind it
Was almost part of it
Trying to stop
Before
Hitting the car in front of me
How fragile is existence
This instant, now, you are here
The next, you may be gone
Leaving a crowd
Wond’ring
Will my next heartbeat be the last?
Life is a breath
A mist
A passing thought
It cannot be captured
It can only be lived
In its moment
Live yours
Today
Yesterday cannot be changed
Tomorrow cannot be written
All we have is now, today
To use, to do, to live in
If this is true should we not give
More care to how we spend it
For time once used is time now gone
We cannot apprehend it
Decide to make today a day that matters, matters for you, for others, and for the kingdom. Use every minute to bring glory to God by loving those around you.
Learn from the past. Live the present. Look forward to the future.