Timekeeping

May 4th, 2013

This afternoon I got a text from my sister. Here is our text conversation.
She said:

Have you read “The Time Keeper” by Mitch Albom? I highly recommend it.

No. I’ll look into it.

I just finished it and, especially with all that’s going on with Shar right now, I feel a real sense of peace and appreciation, and……comfort. Yes, comfort. And contentedness.

Oh good that makes me want to read it.

It’s the first book that made me link my amazon library to Facebook to share.

Wow. Cool.

I was just ending another book, but I couldn’t get her unusual words out of my mind. This conversation is unlike any other we ever had over a book. I clicked on Amazon and bought it, then I went back to finish my current book. (I’m really trying not to read more than three books at once.) The book I was finishing is brand new this week by Frank Viola, whose blog I follow diligently. It’s called God’s Favorite Place On Earth and it is a life changer. I started it at 3 am this morning when my cold wouldn’t let me sleep, and finished it just now. It was magical reading it in the early morning silence, in the dark, with a hot cup of tea. Let’s just say I met Jesus in a new way in that book. Just now I closed out the last page and sat here reflecting.

I took a few minutes to let it sink in, and then I openedThe Time Keeper. Ok, I’m on page seven and I had to put it down and share it with you. Here is the last paragraph I just read:

Try to imagine a life without timekeeping.

You probably can’t. You know the month, the year, the day of the week. There is a clock on your wall or the dashboard of your car. You have a schedule, a calendar, a time for dinner or a movie.

Yet all around you, timekeeping is ignored. Birds are not late. A dog does not check its watch. Deer do not fret over passing birthdays.

Man alone measures time.

Man alone chimes the hour.

And, because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures.

A fear of time running out.

Wow, right? This cold of mine is turning into quite the spiritual experience. Sometimes it’s good to be forced to put your feet up and be still. God talks and teaches in the most unusual ways.

And so, as another day goes by, I think I’m in for an interesting evening, and…I have written.