There is a saying, you could even maybe call it a proverb, that says that the reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once. Sometimes, when you look back at certain times in your life it feels that everything is happening at once. Other times, you may look and wonder if anything is really happening in your life at all. Time dominates our thinking in life – we are either like the white rabbit in the Alice books who said “it takes all the running we can do to stay in the same place” overwhelmed by things happening, or we are like some teenagers sunbathing over on the estate by me in half term on the grass. “Hello vicar,” they said, “when you coming to Rydon?” “What are you doing?” I asked, “We are so BORED!” Time drags!
Why are we so obsessed with time? In the opening time of silence, reflect on these words on the clock in Chester Cathedral:
Prayers and Reflections
Summer 2010
Summer 2010
When as a child, I laughed and wept, time crept.
When as a youth, I dreamed and talked, time walked.
When I became a full grown man, time ran.
And later as I older grew, time flew.
Soon shall I find while travelling on, time gone.
Will Christ have saved my soul by then? Amen.
How do we live through time that is difficult? St. John of the Cross, a 16th century priest, referred to the difficult time as the dark night of the soul. The term has stuck and it is still talked about in those terms today. For St. John of the Cross, the dark night of the soul is a time where God seems distant, where problems seem overwhelming, where questions seem abundant, where faith is difficult. St. John of the Cross spoke of the dark night of the soul as a time where prayer became difficult and God seemed an abstract concept. But he also believed that in the midst of the crisis of faith there was blessing. He believed that instead of just being a test of faith, the dark night was a time for the faith to grow and prosper and become even deeper.
If you spend time praying when praying seems impossible, if you cast your cares upon God when God seems absent, if you allow yourself to surrender to a God who you aren’t sure you believe in, then you will find strength and growth. And when God reveals himself to you once again you will find yourself on even more sure footing.
This concept of the dark night of the soul has been translated to a modern context in the overly pithy poem “Footprints in the Sand”. The poem talks about a person complaining because they looked at their life and saw two sets of footprints in the sand, one set for themselves and one for Jesus, who was walking beside them. But at the difficult times in their lives, they would only see one set of footprints. The author of the poem asked why Jesus abandoned him during those difficult times.
And of course, Jesus responds by saying that he didn’t abandon in the times of trial. Rather, the reason you only see one set of footprints is that Jesus was carrying him through the difficult times.
Sometimes, it feels like time is getting out of control. People say “it can’t be June already, where’s this year going?” Maybe our prayer needs to be, Lord for tomorrow and its needs, I do not pray, you know that hymn, but love me, lead me, bless me, Lord, just for today.
Pray in these months for:
Rest and refreshment for those who are overwhelmed with time.
Those who have too much time on their hands and need something to do.
Our churches offering a glimpse of God’s eternal time.
Rev. Ian Pruden