February 23, 2022 The time disappeared. No, this isn’t a commentary on the passage of time. I mean that literally. The time disappeared. I recently had some work done on my vehicle. The work required that the battery be disconnected for an extended period. As a result, when I retrieved my repaired Jeep, some of my settings on my clock/radio had been reset. Prior to the repairs, if I powered off my radio, the clock would remain visible on the otherwise blank display screen. After the repairs, powering off the radio resulted in a completely black screen. The time disappeared. I’ve tried to make spending time in silence part of my morning commute at least a few times a week, so I power off my radio fairly frequently. At first, not having the clock displayed bothered me. “I won’t know if I’m running late,” I thought. “I won’t know if I have time to stop and grab some Dunkin!” After two or three commutes with those thoughts running through my mind, I pulled into the work parking lot one day and started flipping through the menu on my clock/radio looking for the screen that would allow me to restore the clock to the blank screen. I stopped myself. “What am I doing?” I thought. “What’s the big deal about knowing the time. If I’m running late, it’s not like I can magically teleport myself ahead of the other traffic or make traffic go faster.” While not knowing the time bothered me, I recognized that it was yet another time when I was trying to convince myself I had some measure of control in this life. Newsflash… I don’t. I left the settings on my clock/radio as they were and left the screen blank. When I instinctively look at that screen expecting to see the time, the emptiness reminds me that time, and control over it, isn’t mine. God is in control. As Lent rapidly approaches, I’m reminded that it’s a time to focus on growing our relationships with the Lord. To truly do that, I need to surrender my life to His will. I need to surrender my control. I need to empty myself – much like vehicle repairs emptied my clock screen – to make room for the Lord to work. I also need to surrender my time. |
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