This section of Paul’s story of the early Christ followers chronicles the martyrdom of James, the arrest of Peter for execution, an angel’s dramatic freeing of Peter, Peter’s return to the disciples, and their disbelief. A lot happens in these 17 verses.
And despite all of that, I’m struck by the opening clause: about that time. It’s such an imprecise telling of the story. And while it refers to the preceding actions in Paul’s narrative, it’s only relatively related. About that time.
It seems that we are far too concerned with time, and increasingly so. It wasn’t that long ago when time was basically chronicled by 15 minute intervals. Quarter till. Half past. In this era of digital clocks, it’s interesting how that’s gone by the wayside. I’ve been corrected to the minute when I referred to the quarter. It’s quarter till 3. No, It’s 2:47. I stand corrected.
About 10 years ago (imprecise on purpose), my family was in Kenya. We marveled at the incredibly looseness of time. Dinner was not precisely at any time. Nor our tour. The owner of the camp where we stayed was a Dutchman. He reported that on his wedding day, his African wife was late to the wedding. Her explanation was that her family had asked her for breakfast. They’d travelled far to come, so of course she joined them. He was surprised by her lack of awareness of time. She was surprised by his obsession with it. He was surprised that she didn’t value the punctuality for the other gathered wedding guests. She was surprised he didn’t understand that the measuring of time came second to whatever that time held, in her case being with her family.
Another African I met explained that while westerners may have the watches, African people have time.
I understand that things begin at a certain time. That we need to be on time. That being late in our culture is a sign of disrespect. But I also greatly long for a space where my days are not measured in digital minutes. Or my years, by online calendars.
No one else can be exactly where I am, when I am. That makes our fanaticism with mastery of time and space something that isolates us from everyone else. It is also a little presumptuous, to assume that God’s created world is that measurable and precise. What about leap years? Or times when the atomic clock is adjusted?
Today, I want to revel in the space that’s created without digital clocks and GPS. I want to be in a space and time that contains other people. Thinking of my African friend’s saying, I want to enjoy God’s time, rather than my watch.
I lived in a small village in Indonesia. There were no clocks or watches. We went to bed with the sun. And the villagers didn't measure time but what was important was what they did with their time. We brought in a simple machine that would separate the rice from the straw. It would save them hours and hours of time. They said, "No thank you! We get together and help each other harvest the rice. We have a great time together. We work together and eat together. Never mind if it takes a week. What better use of our time than that? What would we do with that time if it didn't take a week?
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