Ordinary Time 
Pause
Tick. Tick. Tick. That’s the clock. Measuring time in seconds, minutes, hours, days… Time that we schedule and manage and spend. The Ancient Greek word for this time is chronos.
Take a minute to feel the chronos passing by.
But there is another kind of time. It’s the right moment for the right action. It’s God’s time – and our time with God. It’s when Eternity meets our experience. The Greek word for this sense of time kairos.
Breathe in and out, sensing God’s presence, and enter into kairos – knowing that God has words you need to hear today.
Listen
“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who was leaving on a trip. He called his servants and handed his possessions over to them. To one he gave five valuable coins, and to another he gave two, and to another he gave one. He gave to each servant according to that servant’s ability. Then he left on his journey.
“After the man left, the servant who had five valuable coins took them and went to work doing business with them. He gained five more. In the same way, the one who had two valuable coins gained two more. But the servant who had received the one valuable coin dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money.”
Matthew 25:14-18
Think
What does this parable have to do with time management? Do we go with the adage, “Time is money?” Or maybe the reverse? We do talk about spending both. So, what are we to make of this today?
Some scholars estimate that the coins were each worth approximately $1,000,000 in today’s money. Serious money. That tells us two things: the landowner was very rich, and he trusted his servants.
God is generously entrusting us with this day, and to make it worth living, God has given us our interests, passions, energy, and time. How will we manage all that today? Even if we don’t think so, our talents and energy are treasures; we can use them to make the world better. Can we help a struggling classmate with a subject we understand and love? Teach someone to read? Partner with a friend to collect food or visit our grandparents safely? Choose one thing you can do for another person today. Don’t “bury” your gifts; use them for God.
Kay Zimmerman
Pray
God, sometimes I don’t think I have anything to offer. I don’t even have a lot of power to change anything in the world. Help me remember that I do have gifts you have given me, because I am powerfully and wonderfully made by you. Help me to use them for you today. Amen.
Go
Thank God for today.
Open yourself to God’s surprises.
Do what is most important.
Accept that you can’t do everything.
You are blessed and loved.
Music
Day by Day
Carter Harrell
