Who has not looked at the clock and wished that, by moving the hands forward or back, they could control time? Instead, all too often, time is the thing that controls us. We think of time as productive or squandered, too swift or agonizingly slow. But the truth is, we seldom spend enough of our time reflecting on why we view it in a certain light and how time can be an opportunity to experience the sacred.

By pausing to write about the different times in our life, what they mean to us and where God’s fingerprints can be found, all time becomes more precious. You will find that your journal can serve as a powerful lens, allowing you to look deep within the moment and beyond it all at once. Your time becomes God’s time, and with God in charge, we are free to live without the clock as our master.

Use the following questions to help you explore the concept of time:

DIVINE TIME

• When I think of eternal time, what images come to mind?
• When does time stretch before me as if it will never end?
• How can I make the time I have holy?

WASTED TIME

• When I think of wasted time, what images come to mind?
• What are the things that cause me to squander time?
• How can wasted time become holy time?

REDEEMED TIME

• When I think of redeemed time, what images come to mind?
• When do I feel that I have bought time, when there was no time?
• How can I recognize that time has been made holy?

LEISURE TIME

• When I think of leisure time, what images come to mind?
• How can leisure give me more time?
• In what ways is leisure time holy time?

Copyright ©2006 explorefaith.org
Photograph ©2007 Ann Smithwick