Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15-16
“In our contemporary society it often seems that not money but time enslaves us. We say, “I wish I could do all the things that I need to do, but I simply have no time. Just thinking about all the things I have to do today makes me tired: writing five letters, visiting a friend, practicing my music, making a phone call, going to class, finishing a paper, doing my meditation.” Indeed it seems that many people feel that they no longer have time, but that time has them…
The contemplative life is…to start seeing that the many events of our day, week, or year are not in the way of our search for a full life, but the way to it… We discover that writing letters, attending classes, visiting people, and cooking food are not a series of random events which prevent us from realizing our deepest self, but contain in themselves the transforming power we are looking for…
In Jesus’ life every event has become opportunity. He opens His public ministry with the words, “The time has come” (Mark 1:15) and lives every moment of it as opportunity… This is really good news… We no longer need to run from the present in search of the place where we think life is really happening. We can see in the center of the present the first manifestation of the kingdom. Now boredom can no longer exist, since every moment is filled with infinite meaning. Time becomes transparent.
The contemplative life is not a life that offers a few good movements among many bad ones; it transforms all of our time into a window which makes the invisible world visible… It hardly needs to be said that it belongs to the core of all ministry to make time transparent for each other such that in the most concrete circumstances of life we can see that our hour is God’s hour and that all time is therefore opportunity.”
Henri Nouwen in “Contemplation and Ministry” in Simpler Living, Compassionate Life: A Christian Perspective, ed. Michael Schut (New York: Morehouse, 2008) 52-58. I got back to Denver last night and on the trees in the shade you can still see the signs of the first snow that came this past weekend.
Today I fly to Indianapolis to attend the ECFA Church Excel Advisory Committee Meetings. Speaking of opportunity, click to view the free resources developed for faithful church administration, and spread the word about this website to the administrators of your church. Now, back to the point of this post.
We must see time rightly to grow in generosity. My students often refer to stewardship of time, talent, and treasure. Don’t do that! I graciously correct them, saying: just like whatever we think we own, actually enslaves us, those who think they possess time, actually become enslaved by it.
As Nouwen notes, those who succumb to such thinking (that they possess time) never feel like they have enough time. What’s worse is that this thinking causes them to fall into the trap of never fully living in the present. Thus, they miss out on the opportunities God sets before them. So what should we do?
Make the most of every opportunity to live generously in the present for God! Live this way with intentionality. If you don’t, even as those who think they own money (forgetting that God owns everything) never feel like they have enough money, you will never feel you have enough time to live generously.
We must deploy ourselves and the resources God has entrusted to us in obedience right now. Also, because the days are evil (which basically means that few will follow this path), remind others that they will only discover that this path leads to life by taking it. And to best help others, lead the way yourself!