When I entered the sanctuary Sunday morning, people were whispering and staring at me. I became a little paranoid. Do they know something I don't know? Am I being fired?
I held my breath during worship. At the end, I was pleasantly surprised to learn the cause of the whispering. Someone brought out a cake and a card. Everyone sang Happy Birthday! It was very heartwarming. Only, my birthday is in January, five months from now.
When we were children, time stood still. We could not wait for the next birthday and the freedom another year would bring. As adults, the clock is spinning rather than turning and time is flying past us. We dread “another birthday,” and the challenges it will bring.
In the Bible, the Book of Esther is odd in that God is never mentioned. But, time is mentioned. Mordichai famously says to his niece Esther the queen, “Who knows, you may have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
There are two ways to think of time, quantitative or qualitative. The first causes us to watch the clock. What time is it? The other causes us to watch our lives. What is going on in our lives?
It is important to know when we were born. Our birthday. It is more important to know, “Why were we born.” Our purpose. Why we “came into the Kingdom.” There is a reason, you know.
Mark Ross
Comments