Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us that “To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” Time is that resources that most of us complain that we don’t have enough of. We often give the excuse that “I just didn’t have time to do…..” With the current Shelter in Place/Stay at Home mandates, we suddenly find ourselves with the gift of much more time on our hands. What are we doing with it? There are many options, both good and bad.
Bad options include engagement in bad habits such as complaining, overeating, oversleeping, or watching stuff on technology that is not healthy for our minds and spirits. There will be some people who gain a lot of weight during this time and grow lazy. There will be some people who run out of stuff and put themselves in a bind.
Good options with this gift are much more plentiful and can help us to both survive the crisis well and actually help improve our lives. Those options can be:
A time to catch-up – Most of us have a list of stuff that needs to be done. This is either a list of our own making or a “Honey-do” list from another family member. We have time now to cross some items off of the list.
A time to rest – Of course we do have more time to sleep. We also have time to slow down and relax more from our daily busy-ness.
A time to recreate – This is a time to pick up those hobbies that have been in the closet for decades, such as an afghan kit to crochet or a birdhouse to build.
A time to grow better – This is a time to build healthy lifestyles. We have time to exercise and we have time to cook those healthy foods at home.
More time to give – As we are not so busy with our own agenda right now, we have more time to stop and be a friend to someone else – even if it is by email or phone.
The “Great-Again” America that President Trump speaks of could just be glimpsed in this time as we are forced to slow down and really take time to live a bit.
