Time

Time is an interesting concept.
For the majority of the week, my children have tried to wrap their minds around the concept of Daylight Savings Time.
A common question is, "So, it's really 7am, even though the clock says it's 8am, right?"
Trust me, having grown up in Arizona where you never worry about DST and changing your clocks, it's a pretty tough concept to comprehend.
We change the clocks...and VOILA...it's a different time of day.

This is my 5th year dealing with the "time change", and I must admit, it is still a difficult thing to adjust my body clock and my mental thinking based solely on the numbers on a clock.
I didn't realize how much I depend on specific cues to let me know what time it is...and how easily those cues can throw me off when I'm not thinking about the literal time.
Earlier this week, I made a phone call, thinking I had quite a while to talk before running to the bus stop to pick up my children.
I made this assumption based on how much sunlight was coming in my west windows...and I had judged that it was about 2pm.
About 5 minutes into the call, I glanced down at my computer clock, and saw that it was almost 3pm...or was it?
In Arizona it IS 2pm, and if I were to think about Europe, we'd be looking at it being 11pm instead of afternoonish.
Regardless of the time on the clock, there were obligations to be met...and they hinge on those pesky numerals.
I ended the call and headed out the door...but it did make me ponder.

What is time?
We use the concept in many different ways:
It's time to go (somewhere).
It's MY time (for solitude).
It's time to (crawl, etc...).
I have time (or don't have time).
I had a good time.
It's almost time (birth).
It's his time (death).

Clearly, there are many interpretations of time and how we perceive it.
One of my favorite quotes is this:

"When the veil which now encloses us is no more, time will also be no more (see D&C 84:100). Even now, time is clearly not our natural dimension. Thus it is that we are never really at home in time. Alternately, we find ourselves impatiently wishing to hasten the passage of time or to hold back the dawn. We can do neither, of course. Whereas the bird is at home in the air, we are clearly not at home in time—because we belong to eternity! Time, as much as any one thing, whispers to us that we are strangers here. If time were natural to us, why is it that we have so many clocks and wear wristwatches?" Neal A. Maxwell, “Patience,” Ensign, Oct 1980, 28

Time, as we comprehend it, must be utilized to the best of our ability...and we must understand that there are many things that will be experienced during our time here on this earth.
These scriptures comes to mind:

Ecclesiastes 3
1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

May we use the time we are given to the best of our ability.
There is a purpose and plan for each of us...we just need to take the time to find out what God would have us do daily, weekly, and in the larger scope of our life.

In the words Mordecai to Esther: "Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Esther 4).
Our mission will become clear as we petition the Lord to understand His will for us, our time (which is really His time) and our life.

I've been blogging here most of the morning...time got away from me...I've got to run!
See you next time.