How Much Time?

Great question! Can be used in many settings, for many people, on millions of topics. "How much time does it take…? How much time do we have left before…?" And so on.


A quick scan of the news this morning: first interest rate cut by Federal Reserve since 2008; time is melting away until a climate change cataclysm; too much to do with the time available; when’s the next Presidential election? How much time does each democratic candidate have to make his/her point before they run out of steam with the public?


You get the point. Time is a constant in all we do. It is the marker we live with consciously or not; time passes. The past is behind, the present is now, and the future is ahead.


The point is, what we do with the time available? Or what others did with the time available for them sometime in the past? Or still, what will we do with our now time to do what others did not do when they had the chance?


Managing the economy is such a topic. Interest rates go up and down; the market mechanism usually does this for us, but at times the Federal Reserve is the actor-in-chief. If the economy is stuttering, interest rates are lowered to give people a reason to go into debt; this boosts economic activity and saves us from a recession; or so the thinking goes. If the economy is doing too well, then interest rates are raised to give borrowers a second chance to consider if they should go into debt or not, and if they don’t, economic transactions, manufacturing and retail sales take a dip, slowing the economy and averting a disastrous inflationary period.


Time. Monitored by interest rates. Time pricing the value of money and financial activity.


Election cycles. Time urging people to decide on who to vote for or against. Time to get the message out so voters make an informed decision.


Events come and go. Time. Do we attend or not? Do we have other demands (on our time) that keep us from frivolity? A sick relative. A death of a loved one. Interruptions of busy lives that force a change in how we use our time.


The Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church takes time to look at time – how did the creator create the universe? And in how many days? They say it took 6 normal days for God to create the world; and on the seventh day he rested. The Bible says so.


The rest of us scoff at this. Metaphor or not, a day is not 24 hours in Biblical time; it is most likely millions of years. No one knows. We are left to consider the possibilities and the science of such things.


Yet a sect of a major Christian denomination chose to spend its time and energy on this biblical reference rather than focus on the problems that threaten the continued presence of the world itself. Climate change may very well destroy the earth and all of its inhabitants. In just a few years. Yet they recycle the old, tired question in how many days did God take to create the universe?!


Folly.


Some of us are focused on serious issues. We don’t spend our time toying with fun, frivolity or fiddle-faddle. We consider fate, faith and family.


Where do you spend your time?


August 2, 2019