THE PROCESS OF TIME

During this surreal time of our world’s history, time has taken on a new meaning. Covid-19 has been the cause of extreme disruptions regarding time. Just one of many instances is the ten day quarantine period if you contract Covid.  Ten days of not being able to leave your living abode. All your plans, meetings, socializing – screeching to an abrupt halt.

My brother-in-law once said:

“Dying, like living, is a process.  A process of time”

He had responded to a comment my child had made. Two days before my father died, my sister, my husband and I were sitting around his bed, when he opened his eyes and said: “It’s time to say goodbye now. I am going to be with the Lord. The Lord is waiting for me”.

We called everyone into his room and as each grandchild hugged him, he told them that he loved them and gave them a blessing, he then hugged and blessed my sister and I and his sons-in-law. After these beautiful and emotional farewells, my daughter had commented “It will be quite an anti-climax if Grandpa Ray doesn’t die tonight.”

Living, dying, healing, freedom from addictions/habits, job loss involves a series of actions or steps before we achieve a particular end.

For my dad, his process of dying started long before his death, and we had the privilege and joy of being able to spend uninterrupted time with him – holding his hands, reminiscing, praying during this time. He in turn, valued this time of family, of togetherness.

On the day that he died he was content and at peace and repeated a couple of times ‘I am going home’. He closed his eyes at 1pm and went to be with his Lord and Saviour.

What if, instead of gnashing our teeth, becoming impatient and angry, depressed and distraught because we have to quarantine for ten days, or are not receiving our healing or victory in certain areas of our lives, we instead – like my dad – just rest in peace, content that our God will undertake in His time? Spent the time listening to or reading His word and praying. What if we just relaxed into the process of waiting and meditated on the following words?

 ^“The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him,  to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (Lamentations 3:25-26)

What if we really took to heart the following verse and did not measure our time process in minutes, hours, days, months?

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends;  with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day”. (2 Peter 3:8)

“Patience doesn’t mean making a pact with the devil of denial, ignoring our emotions and aspirations. It means being wholeheartedly engaged in the process that’s unfolding, rather than ripping open a budding flower or demanding a caterpillar hurry up and get that chrysalis stage over with.”  Sharon Salzberg

What if we looked at this process of time as a gift?