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How Much Time?

Wishing time away

by Helen Swain (revised, originally published in 2012)

Suitable for Whole School (Sec)

Aims

To encourage the sensible use of time.

Preparation and materials

  • You may wish to display the Latin phrases carpe diem and tempus fugit, in which case you will also need the means to do so.

Assembly

  1. Ask the students to think about what they did last weekend or in the evenings during the past week.

    Now ask them to consider what they are looking forward to doing next week.

  2. Point out that people often spend time discussing their plans for their days off, whether it is time out of work or out of school. School tends to consume a lot of time on weekdays. There is the normal timetable, possibly some sports or music fixture after school and not much space for anything but homework between dinner and bedtime.

  3. However, the weekend gives us two clear days, so it is no wonder that we discuss our leisure plans and look forward to Fridays, when we can begin to do what we want to do rather than what someone else tells us to do.

  4. There is one problem with looking forward to something special: it can sometimes encourage us to live our lives in the future. The problem is that it could take away some of our enjoyment of the present.

  5. A long time ago, a Christian man called Augustine prayed, ‘Lord, make me good, but not yet.’ Augustine prayed like that because he was having a great time and he didn’t want the fun to stop. Of course, the present is not always enjoyable; sometimes, it might feel like it is hardly bearable. Looking forward to a treat in the future, like a holiday or a special film, can help us when we feel a bit down.

  6. However, living in the future is not really living at all. It is just making pictures in our imagination. The present - what the theologian Paul Tillich called ‘the eternal now’ - is all we’ve got. Our lives are much richer when we try to appreciate what is happening right now.

  7. Our lives are made up of tiny moments and each one is important. We can spend each moment doing the right thing or the wrong thing. If we squander our hours, ruin our days and throw away our weeks, our lives will be empty. However, if we see each hour as an opportunity, if we spend each day growing and if we use each week to move ahead, our lives will be full.

  8. In a film called Dead Poets Society, Robin Williams plays a teacher called John Keating who tries to give his students an appreciation of how amazing life is, yet how short it can be. Mr Keating introduces his students to two ideas, usually expressed in Latin: tempus fugit – ‘time flies’ and carpe diem – ‘seize the day’.

  9. Dead Poets Society reminds us to seize each day and cherish it dearly because we can never stop the endless flow of time. To avoid missed chances or regrets in later life, we must always try to enjoy the present.

  10. Optional: you may wish to incorporate this Bible reading from Ecclesiastes 3.1–8.

    A Time for Everything

    There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:
    a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
    a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
    a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
    a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
    a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
    a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
    a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

Time for reflection

Let's pause to think about the day or week ahead as we address the following questions.

- How are we going to make the most of the coming week?

Pause to allow time for thought.

- What is our attitude going to be towards taking opportunities that come our way?

Pause to allow time for thought.

- How can we build some time of rest and refreshment into our lives?

Pause to allow time for thought.

Let us resolve to use the time that we have wisely and take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves.

Prayer
Dear God,
Please teach us to use our time wisely.
Help us to fill each second.
Help us to take advantage of each minute.
Help us to make the most of each hour.
Help us also to see that times of rest are good opportunities for refreshment and peace.
Amen.

Song/music

‘Make me a channel of your peace’, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnY7t1N1s2U (3.29 minutes long)

Publication date: June 2021   (Vol.23 No.6)    Published by SPCK, London, UK.
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