A Calendar

Neither Santa nor one of his elves left a wall calendar under the tree, perhaps because there was no tree!  We had three really interesting calendars for 2011.  The one I kept at my desk featured God’s word with daily scripture readings and beautiful pictures focusing on one color each month.  The one on our refrigerator had the weeks of the year arranged according to the liturgical calendar and actually began with Advent of 2010.  The third we kept at Howard’s End and had been purchased in France.  Each week started with Monday, and the weeks were organized in a vertical rather than horizontal configuration.  All of this variety reminded me that there are a lot of ways to think about a year based on culture and religion.  This week I’m going shopping to find new wall calendars (most of them now ½ price), but I haven’t decided on my themes.  Will I choose something spiritual, something humorous, something reflecting our love of travel?

Whatever I choose, each must have space for marking all the celebrations for those we love.  Birthdays.  Anniversaries.  Births.  I notice, not only in my life but also in the lives of others, the cycle of life and the march of time.  How can my college roommate have a son in his thirties who already earned a masters degree and traveled the world?  How can my beloved stepchildren be the chronological ages of how I actually feel inside?  Where have all of those years gone, and why does it seem that time speeds up as I mature?  Sometimes it’s troubling to think about, but I was blessed with an entirely different perception of time at the Christmas sermon we heard in Paris.

We attended a contemporary service Christmas day at the American Church, and the preacher talked about the most important gifts we can give to one another, not the ones from Chanel or Dior.  One that he mentioned was time--taking the time to visit with or help others in a relaxed and unhurried manner.  He reminded us that as Christians we don’t have to time-slot all of our interactions.  We have an unlimited amount of time, an eternity.  This was a message I needed to hear, and a way of life I need to live.

My new calendars?  For me, they will mark time but not define it.  My time is unlimited.  When you call and ask if I have time to talk, the answer will be “yes.”