Savoring Time

Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle” was one of my favorite songs back in the day. In recent days, the words to this song have been circling constantly inside my head.

My niece, who was just born yesterday, celebrated her sixth birthday this week.  Four colleagues and former classmates were buried within the last month.  When I walked past the bathroom mirror recently, I saw my grandmother looking back at me.  I took a closer look and heard, “If I could save time in a bottle.”

I had lunch with a good friend last week, and we both apologized for not having seen each other since before Christmas. Yes, we’ve spoken on the phone and sent text messages back and forth (I still can’t use “text” as a verb), but we have been unable to find quality time to visit. How can an entire season have passed us by?

Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 tells us “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” There is a time for birth and death, for sadness and joy, for keeping and throwing away.

I’ve experienced a feeling of nostalgia and melancholy during this season of Lent as I’ve spent time de-cluttering and organizing. Through this time of reflection, however, I’ve also experienced a feeling of hope and restoration. These reminders of the precious commodity of time have made me take stock of my own life and make better use of my time.

I want to celebrate life and its precious moments. I want to remember the good times and not the bad. Even as I discard items I no longer use or need, I want to focus on their purpose yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Since I’ve been semi-retired, “there never seems to be enough time to do the things [I] want to do.” However, as I focus on the value of my time and the importance of savoring it, I aim to bottle as many moments as possible with my family, my friends, and my Savior.