The Time Crunch, Part 1

Does this poem by Michael Quoist sound familiar?

Goodbye, sir, excuse me, I haven’t time.
I’ll come back, I can’t wait, I haven’t time.
I must end this letter—I haven’t time.
I can’t accept, having no time.
I can’t think, I can’t read, I’m swamped, I haven’t time.
I’d like to pray, but I haven’t time...

You understand, Lord, we simply haven’t the time....
Lord, you must have made a mistake in your calculations.
There is a big mistake somewhere.
the hours are too short,
The days are too short,
Our lives are too short....


How has this happened? How have we become such time paupers when so many modern inventions have eased the burdens of daily life? Peter Kreeft points out that if we stop someone on the street and ask, "Do you have a free hour or two to converse about the best things in life, about wisdom and virtue, about truth and goodness?” we should expect to hear a ready yes more than any of our ancestors could. Yet, of course, the situation is exactly the opposite. It is much less likely today than at any time in the past that anyone will have a free hour for the most important things in life.

Our ancestors, who had to haul their water and grow their own food and sew their own clothing, didn’t complain about a lack of time and seemed to have more time for what is truly important. And so should we. God created ample time for each of us to accomplish all he calls us to do—if we will learn how to use time wisely: Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of the time because the days are evil. (Eph.5:15,16)