TIME

TIME:  I had recently written some thoughts about time to post on this blog but thought that it wasn’t very interesting and so left it alone.  And then one afternoon this past week I spent 2 ½ hours, yes, 2½ hours, standing, yes, standing, in a line at a bank waiting to pay in some school fees for a young girl who is just beginning Form V.  I had left school where I had taught five 40 minute periods, mostly standing up, and hoped to do the bank deposit quickly and get home to teach the little scholars.  Instead I became increasingly frustrated as I waited in line as half hour followed half hour.  I think what amazed me most was the patience of everyone else in the queue.  There was a bit of murmuring about the long delay and the hardship of standing all that time, but mostly people were amazingly patient.  I couldn’t seem to achieve their level of patience, and went to the desk of the “Customer Service Officer” to ask why another teller couldn’t be provided to speed up the service.  My frustration wasn’t alleviated when told that as it was is the arrangement of the bank, and so that was that.   I really tried not to portray the image of a cranky old woman, but don’t think I succeeded.

In Tanzania Wazungu (Europeans, Americans) are well known for their propensity to be on time for everything.  It’s a real cultural practice that has been a part of my life from birth, I guess, since it seems very deeply ingrained.  When I’m told that some event will start at a certain time, I just HAVE to be there on time, even though I know in my head that the event will not begin at the time stated.  When I was at a school in a village area and invited to attend village meetings, if I was told that the meeting would start at 2.00 I would be there at 2.00, even though I knew for absolute certainty that I would be the first and only one there at that time.  At first I was annoyed by that, but later I came to realize that I was the one out of sync, and so brought a book to read or staked out someone close by to visit or something to use my time before the meeting began.  Even now when I’m told that something is to start at a certain time, someone might tell me on the side the REAL time it may start. 

The concept of time becomes a bit different in schools, when things need to be on a certain schedule so as to run smoothly.  However, the invitations for our school graduation last year said that the ceremony would start at 9.00 a.m. while we were all preparing for the actual starting time – 10.00 a.m.  Sometimes it’s also true in churches, but again many times I’ve arrived “on time” for Mass and find myself waiting for the pews to fill up and the service to begin.  Sometimes the priest warns people that he will start on time, and so at 6.30 he enters the church, with less than a quarter of the church filled.  By the time the Gospel is read, the church is packed, standing room only.

So time is an interesting concept, interpreted differently in different cultures and different situations.  Last thought about time comes from John O’Donohue:

A Beauty Blessing

As stillness in stone to silence is wed
May your heart be somewhere a God might dwell.

As a river flows in ideal sequence
May your soul discover time in presence.

As the moon absolves the dark of resistance

May thought-light console your mind with brightness.

As the breath of light awakens colour
May the dawn anoint your eyes with wonder.

As spring rain softens the earth with surprise
May your winter places be kissed by light.

As the ocean dreams to the joy of dance

May the grace of change bring you elegance.

As clay anchors a tree in light and wind
May your outer life grow from peace within.

As twilight fills night with bright horizons

May beauty await you at home beyond.

- John O'Donohue from his book Divine Beauty