Time


I’m wondering what has happened to the month that has passed since I last posted anything. Once again, it’s not a case of nothing happening; more just a case of lots of little things which eat away at the time and are, in and of themselves, not really worth a blog post. But I suppose that’s a reminder of just how quickly time slips away when there’s constant activity. And that’s a reminder in itself that things come around all too soon and before you know it it’s a bit of a panic to get everything sorted that needs done.

I was speaking with someone recently who was asking what I was up to in the next wee while. By the time I’d rhymed off what was definitely in the diary I realised that a chunk of May had been accounted for, June was a complete goner and July signalled the time for my final report in anticipation of the review in mid-August.

Time, it seems, is not willing to stand still to allow me take stock for a bit. And when I do snatch a moment, I keep thinking in terms of, “But I’ve still to do…” or “I’ve never done…” And, of course, there are all the things that I’m blissfully unaware of that will hit me from out of the blue. But when I snatch a moment and look back at all that I have done, I realise that there has been a lot packed in to what seems a ridiculously short time. And it will soon be time to start dredging it all up and putting it together for a report.

It also came as a shock that I had passed that halfway point and the second half of probation looked an awful lot shorter than the first half. I’m really not convinced that time is constant at all. I think there is some bizarre warp effect that comes into effect the moment you take your eye off the clock to do something. Or maybe time is just downright sneaky.

Anyway – a couple of tangents.

I’ve been reading Eugene Peterson’s,  The Contemplative Pastor and have decided that it should be required reading for all ministers. More to the point, it should be mandatory reading for all vacancy committees.

I’ve also been getting agitated reading recent postings and comments on many of the US-based theology blogs I subscribe to. The issue, of course, is bin Laden. I can’t decide whether to be irritated or saddened by much of the rhetoric that passes for ‘Christian justice’. The, generally, triumphalist attitude is really quite sickening and when respected UK voices are pilloried for daring to question the tone and the actions then I do begin to realise just how vastly different US and European culture actually is. I don’t particularly want to unsubscribe from some of the blogs, because it’s mainly commenters I take issue with, but I see very little response from the bloggers to gainsay them. I’m generally quite happy to read stuff I disagree with, but this recent activity has just left a particularly sour taste.


3 responses to “Time”

  1. Bin Laden…One comment I found quite moving was from a relative of a fireman killed in 9/11 who said that they were glad Bin Laden was dead, but that they weren’t rejoicing. A better tone, I think. Although it is a bit rich for sons of B.L to say that the burial at sea disrespected them…
    Question Time last week spent quite a bit of time on this issue and there were, unsurprisingly, strong views from all sides.
    Time is relative, someone once said, but I like the idea of it being sneaky !!

  2. I’ve made myself a bit unpopular with some of my colleagues by suggesting that OBL was entitled to a fair trial.  Now they think I’m some sort of sympathiser!  Well I’ve got to keep them on their toes.

  3. I have a lot of sympathy for the fair trial argument and I am uneasy about what happened with OBL. I have heard people with experience in such operations speak of the problem of ‘taking him alive’ while in a firefight situation. (Paddy Ashdown no less, while also arguing that the fair trial should have been the end result)
    Like the relative, I’m not exactly rejoicing about how it was done.

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