Passing Us By

Posted by bakerboy on Apr 20, 2010 | 2 comments

Woke up early.  Like really early.  I hadn’t even heard the roosters yet or the stupid dogs belonging to the neighbors living right beside us who feel it necessary to let them out while the ENTIRE neighborhood is still attempting to catch a few more winks before daylight…and then they conveniently forget to bring the dogs back inside…and the dogs let the rest of us know that they are still outside.  They let us know over, and over, and over again.

At any rate, I was up.  Awake.  Grabbed my Bible and dug in.  Kids came down after an hour, grabbed a bowl and the raisin bran and shared breakfast together.  Checked the time of the sunrise, grabbed my keys and hit the bridge with anticipation of how HE was going to paint the morning; what colors HE might use; and how vivid or soft they might glide across the dawn.   Cars swooned past me as if they were already late to work; tires screeching; trucks flying by so fast it was almost as if I had to hold the doors closed to keep them on the car.

I began thinking…a dangerous proposition, I know, but nonetheless, thinking about how much we miss because we are always looking at the next thing, appointment, meeting, to-do, task at hand.  We jump out of bed and rush through our morning routine with our to-do list compiled in our head and to which we add more and more with every passing minute…and we did not even take the time to enjoy the morning with the family.

We hop in the car/truck with a cream cheese bagel in our mouth, coffee in one hand, and briefcase/messenger bag and jacket in the other and we’re off like a shot…arriving to work without even enjoying the sunrise.

We arrive at our desk setting our stuff in one chair and our rump in the other only to realize that we sped through our “breakfast” so quickly that we didn’t take the time to enjoy the bagel…or even smell the coffee.

We take a half-hour or hour for lunch.  The more time we have on our break, the more things we find to fill up that hour, rather than to enjoy the meal and the people and fellowship who accompany it.

On our way home from work, because we have taken this route so often, we don’t give a second thought to the broken down vehicle on the side of the road or the man waving his arms to stop someone for help.  Nope, we are too busy…too focused on getting home to see what happened in the news that day.  And we miss an opportunity to help out our fellow man if not, even a neighbor.  And we miss the sunset.

After we decompress in front of the news, and dinner with the fam, it’s a pat on the head for the kids, a kiss on the cheek for the wife, and off to bed, ‘cuz tomorrow is another big day.  After our head hits the pillow, we realize that we missed a game of catch with the kids, wrestling with the boys, and a tea party with our daughter, as well as a romantic moment with our wife, and most of all…time with our creator…all for the sake of a “busy” day tomorrow.

What do we prioritize?  How is that expressed in where we invest/spend our time?

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