Molding Our Minutes

MOLDING OUR MINUTES

Time arrives daily in twenty-four-hour packages of moldable minutes. It plays no favorites. Each of us receives the same amount. It would be boring, however, if we each molded our minutes in the same way.

I used to get a kick out of using candy molds. The craft class was fun and I invested in molds and supplies. Family and friends were gifted with colorful candies in a variety of flavors and shapes.

Looking back on it, I don't think the candies were all that great. But the people who received them were very gracious. My gift was not just candy. It was the way I molded my minutes to connect with people.

Time for You and Me
That's the interesting thing about time. It's interchangeable. My minutes become yours as I include you in conversation or involve you in a project. Your minutes become mine as you respond.

Isn't that what takes place at a football game? The team molds their minutes to play the game. The stadium is filled with people molding their minutes to cheer them on. It's an exchange of time.

Sometimes I think a hermit might be the only one totally in control of molding his minutes. Getting involved with others always challenges our time. Just ask the home caregiver who is on call twenty-four hours a day. Or ask the single parent who works full time, picks the kids up from daycare and spends the evenings catching up on chores.

Choices and Challenges
We moderns have an extra challenge to our minutes. Anyone wanting to be involved in this twenty-first century must choose how to deal with digital devices.

I think my cell phone and computer are marvelous, but they have certainly changed my use of time. I'm alerted to calls, text messages and email all day long. I find answers to questions on the internet and I gain "how to" information from YouTube videos.

The question is, "Who's in charge?" Do we manage our digital media, or do they manage us? Wise King Solomon said, "There's a time for everything" (Ecclesiastes 3:1). But sometimes it sure doesn't feel like it.

We don't have any choice over the first two time-frames on his list---a time to be born and a time to die. But I think verse six has some wisdom for us. It says, "there's a time to search and a time to give up."

Minutes Fly by No Matter How We Use Them
In our digital age, consider verse six as "a time to turn on, and a time to turn off." How many minutes do you spend on the internet each day? YouTube? Texting? Facebook?

My biggest challenge is minutes spent on Email. No matter how quickly I think I can get it done, it always takes longer. So far, I try to open and deal with it once a day.

Would I want to return to the days before cell phones, tablets, laptops and computers? No way! I'd rather face up to the challenge of molding my minutes each day.