We say we’re “killing time” as if time were an enemy. But in truth, time is our greatest gift. Each moment is a piece of eternity placed into our hands. And yet, how often do we rush through it, or try to distract ourselves from it?
We hurry through traffic, weaving between lanes as if the road is a race. We check our watch during a movie instead of letting ourselves be carried away by the story. We grow agitated in line at the grocery store, or impatient when a pedestrian takes their time crossing the street. Beneath it all lies a subtle resistance to where we are. It’s as if our minds are saying, “Anywhere but here.”
The mind finds the present moment dull. It longs for what’s next, convinced that something better must be waiting just beyond the horizon. But when we live this way, we sacrifice the now. We rush through our children’s early years, eager for them to grow up, only to ache with sorrow when they finally leave home. We save and scrimp for some future oasis of time, all the while missing the sacredness of life as it unfolds today.
Like petulant children, we push away what we have, convinced it’s not enough. But what if the opposite is true? What if the fullness of life isn’t somewhere else, but right here — in the laugh around the dinner table, the stillness of the morning, even the waiting in line?
“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24).
Not tomorrow. Not when the traffic clears, or the savings account grows, or the kids are older. This day. This moment. Right now.
When we kill time, we’re not just rushing hours — we’re refusing God’s gift. But when we receive the present moment as it is, we find that time doesn’t need to be killed. It needs to be lived.
Reflection Question:
Where in your life are you “killing time” instead of living fully in the present?
Prayer:
Lord, forgive me for the moments I rush past, the blessings I overlook, and the gifts I ignore in pursuit of what’s next. Teach me to rejoice in the day You have made, to honor the present as holy ground, and to see You in the ordinary moments I so easily dismiss. Amen.
