What is time?

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.  I hope you all are enjoying the colder weather, wherever you are.  I miss the snow.  I miss wearing a jacket.  I miss wearing four layers of pijama pants to bed every night (don't ask).  I miss leafless tree.  I miss seeing my breath.  Today, we played ultimate frisbee in the park and I wore shorts and a t-shirt.  You might wish you had this weather.  I wish I had your weather.  "It's so cold."  "It's so hot."  I find myself rarely thankful for the present weather I'm in.  Before the wonderful invention of cell phones and clocks, time was determined by where the sun was and by seasons.  Birds fly south.  Dry seasons and rainy seasons.  Leaves fall (in most places).  Temperatures drop.  In middle-class America 2011, efficiency and punctuality are valued and practiced by many.  Schedules and structures are formed.  Cell phones looked at frequently for time.  Alarms set.  Microwaves, ovens, sports shotclocks, all have timers that countdown.  Clock in and clock out of jobs.  How can I make the most out of my time?

Time is important.  We should be more thankful for the time God allows us to live.  Every inhale of oxygen is a gift from God.  He keeps us alive.  I just wanted to share why a middle-class view of time might hinder our ability to care for those from poverty (just in case "visiting the homeless" is ever on the calendar).  Over a year ago in Madison, two friends and I went out to State Street to hand out a bunch of bagels that someone somehow had.  I remember we sat and talked with an old lady named Sissy who was homeless and missing most of her teeth.  She mostly did the talking and I remember that it was daytime when we met her, and getting darker when we finally left.  It was a very long conversation and I can remember myself getting ancy, feeling like I should be somewhere, doing something, getting something done for myself.  I glanced at my phone a bunch I remember.  My point is this; when you have no phone or watch or job or meetings, time just doesn't matter.  You only think about one thing.  How do I make it through today?  What am I going to eat?  How do I stay warm? Keep cool?  When there is nothing on your agenda for a day, the present is most important.  Me, the future is most important.  What decisions today will impact my tomorrow?  College.  Where to live.  Job.  If I want "C" to happen, then I must do "A" and "B".  I have a friend who went to Mexico for a semester in college and said how he was frustrated that when he and his friends said they would meet somewhere at 5pm, it was normal for them to be an hour or so late.  Time is used differently everywhere.  Get up at the crack of dawn to start plowing the fields.  Wait for the rainy season to pass before traveling in the jungle (I don't know if this one is true or not).  If clocks and calendars did not exist, what things in our life would change?  No TV guide, no organized sports.  Tom Hanks kept track of time on his islandic hell in "Cast Away" by carving white notches into a rock to know when the winds would change and when he would shove off on his raft for freedom.

Whatever you think the norm is for how time should be managed, it is completely different in different cultures.  Understanding the culture before we minister, I believe, is not just important, but necessary if we are to show the love of Christ.  Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, "Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.  To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews.  To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.  To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law.  To the weak I became weak, to win the weak.  I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.  I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.  Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?  Run in such a way as to get the prize."  Paul understood the people he was trying to save.

Please pray that God's wisdom and love for people in this different culture would be given me through the Holy Spirit.  One of our two:fifty-two kid's house is being condemned on Dec. 9th even though they said they have the lease.  Please pray they find a place to live that's close enough where he doesn't have to change schools and can stay in our program.  Thank you.  I will be back home in Wisconsin Dec. 20th thru the end of 2011.  I'll be in Madison the 20th and 21st hopefully so if you'd like to hang out or see me let me know.

God bless

I like to find any excuse to share this song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD7ErLIhwYA