West Main

PRODUCT RICH, BUT TIME POOR

“There is not enough time in a day,” we often say. We are a busy people. We are so busy that we seem to fight to “find the time” to do all that we want to do. We seem to be facing a scarcity of time.  Where has all the time gone?

I recently read a valuable insight about the scarcity of time that made the point that we often overlook the fact that consumption takes time. In other words, we typically do not consider how long or how much time will be taken up by all that we do. For instance, I love books. The truth is I have more books than I have time to read them. Now when I walk into a bookstore and see a book that I would like to read, I should (but I do not) say to myself: “Yes, this looks like a good book to read. I have the money to purchase this book. But how much time will reading (consuming) this book take? How much time do I really have left in my schedule for the consumption of another book?” Consumption takes time.

Generally speaking, we live in an affluent culture that has provided most with the means to be rich consumers of a vast array of consumer products. Certainly by world standards, the vast majority of Americans have the means and access to more products and variety of products that many on our planet could only imagine. Walk into a typical grocery store in America and count how many brands of toilet paper you can purchase. Beyond a doubt, we are a consumer product rich culture.

Here is a paradox. We are blessed (?) to have such affluence in our country and so we would think that all these blessings would give us more time to enjoy. After all, we can purchase all kinds of technologies, such as washing machines, to “save time.”  In our capitalistic society we are encouraged to keep on purchasing products and more products to keep the economy going.

However, just because we have the means to purchase products does not mean we have the time to enjoy those products.  The paradox is that being able to purchase more and more products leads to less and less time to enjoy them. The truth is there is only so much time in a day and only so much that a human being can do. Our excessive purchasing of products (from books, to sports, to arts, to leisure) has consumed our time. We have more products than time to consume them. We are product rich, but time poor.  

Now the problem of more products than time to consume those products leads to a major issue:  How much time do we have for the care of our souls? We need to reflect more critically on how much our obligations and what we regard as necessary consumes in time. For example, how much time does your employment take up? How much time does taking care of your physical health take up? How much time does the maintenance of your household take up? After you consume all the products you “have to do,” how much time do you have left to consume for the growth of your faith in God?

Honestly, speaking for myself, I confess that I typically do not consider how much time the purchase of another product (sports, books, arts, music, etc.) will consume the time I have left (if there really is any time left).  I fear I may be short-changing my spiritual transformation by robbing my faith of the necessary time. Being able to do things (purchase more products) does not mean I ought to do so. How much time should the care of my soul take up? One spiritual discipline I would encourage us all to do is the following. When we go to consume a product or any activity, ask ourselves: “How much time will this product and activity consume? Will the consumption of that time result in any sacrifice of the time I need for the care of my soul and the spiritual transformation into the image of God in the face of Christ?” In other words, can we really afford the consumption of any more of our time? We may be able to afford the product or activity, but not the time consumed and taken away from our faith in God. Thank you for your time!

-- Terry

The True Meaning of Christmas is the title of our CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS PLAY.

All Cast Members and Helpers need to be at the building for play rehearsal at 4:30 p.m. this Sunday, December 18.  We will have a short practice, then a snack time before we get ready for our presentation at 6:00 p.m.

Everyone is invited to join us for the Play Presentation at 6:00 p.m. Please come and invite your friends and family to enjoy the play. We will have a fingerfood fellowship following the service.  Please bring lots of your favorite foods to share with our guests that come.