Dear Friends,
Anyone who knows me knows I love music, I love listening to it, singing it, and sharing it. The instrumentals set up a feel for the body to react to; the lyrics reach into the mind and the heart. I played a song on the radio the other night, I have played this song many times before but as I sat here thinking about what my topic should be tonight this song kept playing in my head. The song: “I Didn’t Have The Time” by Jimmy Dean. As the words filled my head; “I didn’t have time to smile – kiss – say “How are you?” – or comment on the weather. Tomorrow I’ll find the time to help someone with loneliness, visit someone sick, or spare a dime for a panhandler. No time for an uplifting thought or a prayer. Do these word/lyrics sound familiar to you? Do you ever reach the end of your day saying “There just isn’t enough time in a day” I have a job I drive an hour each way to, by the time I get home there are so many chores to take care of, papers for work to file. Oh the things that pile up, mow the lawn, change the oil in the car, clean the gutters, take out the trash, the kids have sports and concerts, and there’s parent teacher nights. We are planning a vacation this summer, and a family Bar B Q with a moon bounce for the kids “There just aren’t enough hours in a day!”
Does any of this sound familiar? As I grow older I find that many of the things that filled my hours now don’t seem very important. Oh the bills will need paying, the kids need involved parents, food on the table, heat in the winter, lights and water for bathing. The car needs to be kept in safe running order the house and grounds will always need maintenance, yes there will always be responsibilities. But at what cost do we put off the small things, I’m not speaking monetary cost, what price do you put on the little things we say we don’t have time for? Maybe what we need to ask is “how much does it cost me to not take the time” for the simple common decencies of life. It cost nothing to greet people with a smile, a cheery “How are you today?” Maybe a couple of minutes to visit someone lonely or call someone feeling ill. Share an uplifting thought with someone feeling down or say a prayer with a friend. The song ends with this thought; “What if God closed the gates to Heaven because I didn’t have the time.” Well this week’s column is ready to go to press, now I have to call a friend of mine, she’s 99 years old and I want to see how she is doing, no one should feel alone and forgotten.