Taking time to think about time

I’m sure many of you, like me, are calendar-driven. For me, a “type A,” “obsessive-compulsive” person, in order to ensure my schedule “fits,” I must focus on when my events occur. Sometimes, my schedule is so packed, the “time” I can spend and the “time” it takes for me to go somewhere aren’t in sync.

“Time” is an interesting word and used prolifically. I already mentioned “sometime,” which is ambiguous at best. Being “on time” for someone like me – with my military experience – is important. My wife? Not so much: She focuses on being “just in time.” (I explain that she can’t leave home at the time church starts and hope to make church on time. But she ignores me much of the time.)

We need to know the time a movie starts and how much time the previews take, so our time is used for the movie, not all the fluff before the feature. And we must “allow time” to get our popcorn and drinks! Also, if using a crowded freeway, I “add time” to my drive to a destination – to ensure I arrive “on time.”

We glance at watches all day long: “What time is it? What time is my next event? Do I really have time to do this?” If my schedule gets too crowded, I realize I have “no time” for another event. Time can be endless: We say God is “outside time” or “invented time,” since (for us humans) time didn’t start until we were created. We Christians believe the Bible’s message is “timeless” and also believe we will have “infinite time” to enjoy heaven (or hell, God forbid!).

I’m a musician, so I must “keep time” to play my horns correctly. There is “half time” or “cut time,” and time is measured differently for songs: We use three-quarter time for waltzes, four-four time for most charts, and, if Dave Brubeck is the composer, you might play in twelve-eight time, which I don’t have time to explain! The Holyoke Dragons play songs at “half time” in ball games, while soldiers march in “double time.” During a game, each team takes a “time out” periodically, leaving us “time” to go to the restroom or get some snacks. And, if there is a tied game, ”overtime” might be played.

To keep the earth’s time relative to everyone, we have time zones – well, except for a few stubborn states around the country – and that messes with our minds when we travel or call someone. God even “reversed time” or “kept time stationary” in the Bible, but our time zones can be intriguing. If we have a two-hour flight and fly from a place in the Central Time Zone to somewhere in the Pacific Time Zone, and the flight is two hours long, we land at the same time we took off! Egad. I am getting a headache.

We say, “You can come over anytime,” but that could be awkward if that person shows up at 3 a.m. and finds you with “no time” to see him or her. And, if someone comes to see us after we have asked that person to do so for months, when he or she gets there, we say, “It’s about time!” Oh, and we now don’t spank kids, we give them a “time out” until it is “time for them to behave.”

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