As I write this article today for Pastor’s Perspective, I’m sitting in a comfortable hotel room in Kentucky. My family and I made a beeline out of town the moment school was finished so we could enjoy a much needed family vacation. Over the past two years we’ve been busy with life – and for us that included planting a new church in Fairfield. It’s been a long and rewarding process, but the church is now on its feet, we’re concluding a remodeling process in our new location, and it’s finally time for us to start making more time for each other.
It’s amazing how fast the past 27 months have passed for us. From the moment we arrived in town in March, 2006, it seems like life has certainly sped up. And it just keeps getting faster. It’s a phenomenon we all probably experience. We parents know there’s really no way to explain this concept to our children. Mine think from time to time that our clocks actually move backwards (like when they’re waiting to drive or turn that “magical” age of 13!)
As a kid I loved to watch the Japanese cartoon, Speed Racer, and dream of race cars with secret buttons and driving at breakneck speeds with no consequences. I am, after all, a distant relative of the famous Nascar driver, Cale Yarborough. Speed runs in my blood – or so I like to think. But these days I’d settle for something a little slower – something that allows me to pay more attention to the blurry details of quickly passing scenery.
This is where I admit to also being an avid Star Trek fan. No, I don’t dress up in costumes and go to conventions (that would be my sister.) But I have always admired the sense of exploration and urgency that each of the Star Trek Captains possessed. There was always a sense of living in the “now” and not constantly looking toward tomorrow.
In the 7th Star Trek movie, “Generations” (#11 comes out next year!), there’s a curious line spoken by the conflicted villain, Dr. Soran. Haunted by past memories of his wife and children being taken from him unexpectedly, he says, “Time is the fire in which we burn..."
For those of us who have shared his torment with past regrets, we might be tempted to agree. If we’re constantly looking in the rearview mirror of life, we most likely will never be satisfied with what we see. Conversely, if we’re always looking ahead to a better tomorrow, it probably will prove frustratingly elusive.
Maybe the secret lies in living our lives in the “now”. King Solomon, over three thousand years ago, confirmed this divine concept when he said in the book of Ecclesiastes, “To everything there is a time.” He was emphasizing the idea of fully living in today, engaging our present and not being consumed by past failures or distant futures that may never come.
How much time do we spend hoping, wishing, craving things we don’t have instead of enjoying life with our family right where we are? Sure, our current situation probably isn’t exactly like we’d desire it to be, but that’s why Jesus told us that worrying about life doesn’t change anything! Jesus always lived in the moment, seizing opportunities as they came His way.
As my kids are growing older – they’re currently 16, 13 & 9 – I’m resolving to make the most of every opportunity I have with them because time is passing and these present opportunities will never come again.
The old saying goes, “Time is a gift from God…that’s why it’s called the present.” We’re meant to use it wisely and carefully because it can’t be replaced. Or as my favorite Star Trek Captain, Jean Luc Picard, would say, "Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived."
Let’s resolve today to make each moment count. For us, for our families, and for eternity.