Thursday 10 July 2008

Tick tock, tick tock , tick tock. - there's nothing like the sound of a ticking clock to make you feel agitated with the relentless passage of time, is there? If you're downloading a file on the computer it will insist on telling you how many seconds you will have to wait. If you're trying to pay money into the bank, you must not only balance money, cheques, envelope and purse or wallet - but also keep half an eye on the countdown clock to make sure the machine doesn't give up on you. In some cities there are even countdown clocks on the traffic lights so that you know how many more precious seconds there are until you can slip the car out of neutral and pass onto the next junction. These things are all offered in the name of saving time and allowing us to get on with our busy lives, but sometimes it feels as if we are enslaved to time - locked in a constant battle to do as much as we can before the relentless sweep of the clock hands catches up with us.

The other day I came across a piece of advice which surprised me so much I had to read it twice - which probably cost me precious seconds. The writer was actually suggesting that we should go out of our way to take time, rather than saving it. "Join the longer queue at the supermarket", he said, "never move out of neutral on the amber light, and don't even put the phone down when you get to the muzak and the assurance that 'your call is important to us'". Strange advice indeed! But perhaps he had a point.

Sometimes the only way to savour life is to slow down and taste it. Otherwise the whole thing becomes like a microwave meal - cooked in seconds, consumed in minutes and leaving you with nothing but a burnt tongue and an insipid taste in your mouth. Taking life just a little slower, even for one day a week, can allow you to savour the art of conversation, appreciate the people around you and maybe even to look up at the sky above you.

The Bible tells us not only that "each day has enough worries of its own", but also that God has made "everything beautiful in its time".

An 8-year old once wrote that the best thing about Grannies was that "if they take you for a walk they go slowly past all the beautiful leaves and caterpillars and they never say 'come along quickly' or 'hurry up'".

Take your advice from a theologian, the Bible, or even an anonymous granny today - but whatever you do, take a little time.