Is time a friend or foe?

I recently read Mitch Albom's novel The Time Keeper. In this beautiful work of fiction, the inventor of the world's first clock is punished for trying to measure God's greatest gift. He is banished to a cave for centuries and forced to listen to the voices of all who come after him, seeking more days, more years.

At 77 years old, you may wonder why I would read a book about seeking more days and years when this goal is primarily out of my control. The best I can do is live a healthy life and avoid things that may hasten my demise. However, the main character in this book, Father Time, got me to think about all the clocks that are a part of my daily life, and how time sometimes takes control of me. This became apparent when I had to set them all ahead for daylight savings time.

I started in the kitchen by changing the wall, stove, and microwave clocks. Then I moved throughout the house, changing the two chiming wall clocks, the two alarm clocks in our bedroom, and my wall clock in our den. I then moved to our two bathrooms and changed the time twice. Thinking I was finished with this twice-a-year task, I then remembered there were clocks in our car and DVD player that needed changing. Everywhere I went there were clocks to remind me of the time.

When I was a young boy, I thought time moved so slowly. It seemed to take forever for anticipated events to arrive. The wait to grow up to the age to attend high school seemed to take forever. Then, when I did get into high school, the two years of waiting to get my driver's license seemed like an eternity. The final two years of waiting until graduation took forever. Time just would not move fast enough for me when I was young. After all, I had so many years ahead of me and many things to do that it was easy to become impatient with time.

Now that I am in my life's twilight, time seems to pass at warp speed. I measure time by events such as attending monthly breakfasts with friends and filling my pill container each Saturday night. It is incredible how quickly these events keep coming up. I had the misconception that retirement would be a time when I would have more time to do the things I enjoy.

I did not realize that all this extra time would pass by me so quickly. So, I have decided that time is out of my control and that I must simply enjoy each moment I have left.

BE OUR

G UEST

BY

KEN ANDERSON “THE MAYBERRY GURU”