TIMING

I have long been fascinated by the concept of timing. Maybe it started, or I at least became aware of it, in my early adolescence.  I heard the lyrics of a popular song that had in it the lyrics, “ticka ticka ticka good timing, timing . . . it’s true, it’s time that brought me to you.”  Maybe not too profound, but it got me thinking—and got me a wife about seven years later.

Timing is not something that happens in a vacuum; it is hooked to something else.  A homerun is a moving bat hooked for a microsecond of time to a moving ball. A good (or bad) outcome is being in the right (or wrong) place at the right (or wrong) time.  My old car, later in my adolescence, would not run very well if my ignition timing was not ‘set’ so that the spark of the spark plug went off exactly when the piston was at the top of its stroke; a little bit ahead of time, or a little bit behind time would not give me the power the engine was capable of producing. Timing for a musician is absolutely critical if he or she hopes to succeed in an orchestra.

As you might guess, I learned from my early observations how to be a good hitter in baseball, a backyard mechanic in trying to keep my car running, a horn player in a band and a happy young man in timing it right with the right young woman.  It all took good timing.

Moving up from insights gained from a popular song in the late 50’s to a popular English author of the 19^th century to buttress my arguments, I turn to Charles Dickens: 

            “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us . . .” (Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two  Cities ).

Though many would doubt it in this 21’st Century time of increasing catastrophes I would have to disagree with Dickens’ last line, “we had nothing before us. . . .” I would jump back in time to the apostle Paul’s encouragement to the Romans:

“. . . It is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.  The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light” (Romans 13: 11-12).

In my fascination with timing I have come to some (tentative) conclusions.  These have not been tested by the scientific method or confirmed by authoritative pronouncements, but rather by some of my experiences of a lifetime of learning—here a little and there a little, observation upon observation,  line upon line, response upon reflection, trial upon error, faith upon hope . . . . These things bear upon good timing and therefore upon a positive outcome.

·        Cause and effect always come into play with result.  ‘Luck’ is largely an illusion.  You make your own luck; and luck is made of work and work takes time. 

·        You’ve got to slow down and really pay attention to what the situation shows to you if you are a patient, careful observer.  The answer or right approach is, more often than not, right in front of you. It may be veiled, but it is right there. If you are thinking about a matter still undone, the timing is probably now.

·        Learn the important principles that appertain to whatever you are trying to accomplish, and you will find they are connected to timing.

 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to [harvest]; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; . . . a time to get, and a time to lose . . . (etc.)” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).

·        There are two sides to every coin (or opinion, or experience). Which side are you looking at?

“We need to be careful how we deal with those about us, when every death carries to some small circle of survivors thoughts of so much omitted, and so little done—of so many things forgotten, and so many more which might have been repaired! There is no remorse so deep as that which is unavailing; if we would be spared its tortures, let us remember this, in time.”

(Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist)

It is time that I end this. 

CENTURY 21: Life 2.0

“. . .Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. . . .” / “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God” (1 Peter 4:12, 17)?

It has often been said that ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.’  A juxtaposition is in order, for it can just as legitimately be said that ‘Catastrophe is in the experience of the victim.’ Let us put a little perspective on our current catastrophe, the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Tragedy is not exclusive to any one time, or place, or people, or cause.  It does not need to reach a quantitative threshold or ‘tipping-point.’  The condition or situation or disaster does not have to affect a million or a billion people to be as painful, disruptive, shattering or life-altering as can a single incident to a single person.  The person who is hit and maimed or killed by a D.U.I. driver, the passengers who die at the hands of a terrorist shooter or bomber, the little human being who is aborted, the teenager who is duped into trying drugs and his or her altered life (or death if an overdose or suicide is the outcome) shatter the family left in the wake of their hopes and dreams of seeing their son or daughter, brother or sister go down. The community that is hit by a devastating tornado, or wildfire, or localized flood, or entire nation by a famine.  The scenarios go on and on.

It doesn’t take a world war, or an economic depression, or a volcanic eruption or a pandemic such as we are in now to tip the scales to a radically-altered life-style for the survivors.  

So what we come down to is Life 2.0—our personal or national or global status-quo being radically altered.  It will be for all people at some point in their lives or in the lives of the survivors who are left to pick up the pieces.  We should not “think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you. . . .” 

The thing to understand is that it will come.  Knowing or believing that, we should be as prepared as we can for whatever eventuality is likely to come to us.  We should have a supply of food, water, medications, medical supplies, tools and fuel on hand.  We should have some cash on hand.  We should, all along, make wise decisions regarding the food we eat, the daily exercise we should get, the things we do or have done that make us vulnerable to being taken down: things such as our hygiene practices, our skills (or lack of them) regarding first aid, of how to grow things, financial management, practices leading to sound emotional strength and resourcefulness.  We need fitness for living.

At least as important as any of these things, as you might guess if you are familiar with any of my perspectives articulated in these essays over the years (and the scriptural citation at the beginning of this piece), is the importance of having the knowledge of why these trials must come about to all mortals, and what we can do about them.  What are our spiritual resources to help us cope and understand? 

If people would not reject out-of-hand the assertion that there is a people who believe that there is a Prophet of God on the earth, right now, and His Church, who have some answers and are at peace with them they could likewise better cope.

But, of course, there are far more than the 17 million souls who belong to this Church, who don’t believe and would rather put their trust in science, or CNN or Fox, or their government, or themselves, to weather this storm, and the next, and the next. 

Well, good luck. 

“And when [Jesus]was come into his own country, he taught them . . . insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?  Is not this the carpenter’s son?  And they were offended in him.  But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country. . . and he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:53-58). 

LEAN ON ME

Let’s take this as a first thought—the need to belong to somebody. 

If we ever have, or have had, the privilege of becoming a parent we must know at the outset that the child we parent needs to know that they belong to us, at least for the first 15-20 years, maybe longer--that he or she can count on us until the time comes they must stand on their own.   As a parent we must be reliable.  We will provide for them, we will protect them, will care about them—will value them, won’t abandon them or abandon their other parent. And in some way, though they can’t articulate it, they intrinsically feel their parent needs them. In short, that they will love us and they can count on our reciprocation. 

Since we were all this child we have experienced this to one degree or another.

Take it one step back.  If we have the privilege of marrying, the same basic assumptions or expectations are in place.  Many marriage ceremonies have in them the language that the woman ‘gives herself’ to the man and vice-versa.  If it is less than that then a built-in instability or weak foundation will one day give way when faced with the stresses the relationship will inevitably have to face. Somebody will get hurt—and someone may likely feel they are adrift—that they belong to nobody. This is not true, but many feel that way. 

There are a couple of ways out of this. 

  

If we do not feel we are ‘number 1’ in somebody’s life, we will still seek to belong to somebody—even if they are ‘number 2—or 3’ or more. If we can’t find that ‘somebody’ as a substitute for an intrinsic family relationship or for most, the ‘programmed-in’ need for a marriage counterpart, the need will, probably less-satisfactorily be met by somebody or some organization or group or gang or something that in some way needs us.  It is a human imperative—this need to belong.

There are others, though, many others, who can help.

Songwriter-singer Bill Withers died yesterday.  His song, ‘Lean On Me,’ inspired many that there are others, indeed we could be the ‘other’ in other circumstances, there to help.  Many of my generation and even much later remember his words: 

“LEAN ON ME”:

Sometimes in our lives we all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on

For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

Please swallow your pride
If I have things you need to borrow
For no one can fill those of your needs
That you won't let show

You just call on me brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'll understand
We all need somebody to lean on

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

You just call on me brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on . . .

Be the ‘other’ that someone can lean on.  As you do, both of you can be made strong until the day you need “somebody to lean on”!