Reflections on Time... thoughts while waiting for a tow truck

I am sitting here waiting for a tow truck. Yesterday he said he would come in the afternoon; I was home all day, waiting. He did not end up coming. Today, he said he would arrive between 8-9am (earlier then I would of liked to get up, but hey it would be done early!) I hit snooze over and over thinking he would be here any minute. I got a call at 8:50am – "I will be there within the next two hours." 11:45am rolls around, with another call "I promise 10 more minutes" (granted this is 3 hours later). 12:45pm, I hand him the key to take the car. Waiting around for 4 hours! Not that I am super busy and I am even guilty as charged for being late most of the time, but come on! I felt that I had a “right” not to have wasted half my day and yesterday. I felt that it was my “right” to be told an accurate timeframe. With a bitter, frustrated heart, I politely said “No, problem. Thanks for coming.”

So this got me thinking about time. Time to say goodbye, on-time, if only I could push back time, time to go to bed, etc… We have so many words/phrases and associations with “time.” But where do we learn our ideas about time. Is it cultural? Religious? Philosophical? What makes up the norm? In my day-to-day world if you are not on time for work, you can get fired. If you are not on time to class, your grades can go down. There are consequences to missing time (interviews, anniversaries, birthdays, bills and deadlines). Time encompasses events that can come and go. Ken likes to say that weddings are social time capsules, seeing all the people you once knew. According to the dictionary, Time is “the system of those sequential relations that any event has to any other, as past, present, or future; in definite and continuous duration regarded as that in which events succeed one another.”

The Western world, often views time as linear. It is non-repetitive, advancing and directional. Several sources mentioned that this idea originated as a Judeo-Christian view where, “All human life was a ‘continuous linear redemptive process,’ and the history of the world was seen as ‘a divine drama enacted on a single stage, with no repeat performances.’” This resonates with me. This is a concept I understand and agree with. But the world I live in is primarily Western, Judeo-Christian.

In an article I read, a more recent idea of time came from an anthropologist named Edward T. Hall (1983). He expressed Western time as 'monochronic' where he combined the linear idea with a more ‘tangible' idea of time. He used the visual of a ribbon or road stretching from the past to the present and divided into sections of minutes, hours, days, years, etc…

Two ideas I really liked from this article were: 1 - “Time in the Western world is also seen as a form of currency or commodity, which can be 'spent', 'wasted', 'saved' or 'given'. It can be 'free', 'spare', 'extra' or 'overtime'.” And idea #2: "Many people live largely outside clock time, especially the young, elderly, unemployed, disabled, depressed or chronically ill. Clock time is also less important at times of leisure, sex, ritual or religious fervour, and there are often differences between the speeded-up time of the city and the slower time of the country side" (sorry not APA formatted, but you get the idea and here's the Article link). I deal with my time that way: was it wasted, free, or spare? The tow truck driver "wasted my time today." But why do I see time that way? When I have sat with friends who have been sick or had someone close die, time is not counted, not pressured, it just exists. When you are first dating or "in-love," conversations go on for hours and hours with no concept that much time has gone by at all. The nature of time differs with the realities of our individual experiences.

Another important definition was 'polychromic' time; this time idea is less linear and less tangible then the 'monochronic' time. Polychronic time is experienced as a 'point' at which relationships, events, or social interactions converge. Flexible and fluid, not necessarily a road or a ribbon, but you can come back to things, pick up tasks where you left off, etc... But there is a greater focus on the people involved, the conversations, transactions, or "waiting for the right time," versus the strict pre-set schedules or clock time. People I have known like this, I have liked, but also been annoyed with. I wish I was more like this; I enjoy both ideas, but tend to think in more of 'monochronic' terms.

My last thought on 'time,' is that it is also a burden; self-imposed, culturally imposed, imposed by other’s expectations. I for one hate sitting in traffic when you have to be somewhere, trying to get from point A, to point B. As a student, I always hated the stress that came with finals week and would just want to escape it (pull the all-nighters/get it done as quickly as possible). Yet, during this last year, I have been diligently job searching, but so far it has taken 8 months and still no light at the end of the tunnel (which is equivalent to lots of time on my hands). During this "time," I have not got involved in different things I have wanted to do (church, volunteer work, etc...), because I assumed I would be getting a job just around the corner. I feel that this last year has almost been wasted by my "Parenthetical living" as one of my professors used to say. We live in these parenthesis, where we say, when I graduate, I will... when I get married, I will..., and in my case, when I get a job, I will.... We are always looking to the next step, we forget about the present and miss out on the opportunities and what God has in store for us in the now, in the present. I like to say that during these waiting times when it feels like there is no movement, that is where the "real work" gets done.

The visual of a large oak tree comes to mind. If the roots are not growing deep in the calm, then when the storm hits/winds come, it will blow over. When we don't think we are growing, sometimes its just below the surface. So that is my encouragement to you however you define time. Whether you are burdened by it, or just plain want to escape it's constraints; look for the here-and-now, slow down, and look at the beauty around you, and the work that is getting done.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace."