I love it when my children teach me something, or at least make me think about something I might not have considered otherwise. Now that they are all adults, this is a more frequent occurrence. For example, my youngest son shared a statement he heard and has taken to heart, “You are a reflection of the five people with whom you spend most of your time.” In response, he tries to prioritize his time so that he is living and socializing more with people he admires and respects.
At first blush, some might object to this credo as promoting a ghetto mentality and rejecting diversity of thought and ideals. On the contrary, this is not a call to shun anyone. All of your friends and acquaintances do not have to be of a monolithic ideological persuasion. But spending time with people who share your values strengthens your character so when you do venture into a more diverse crowd, your principles are strong enough to withstand the challenges.
Pondering this idea a little further, I realized it is really a variation on the words of Christ, “For where your treasure is, there is your heart.” (Matthew 6:21) There is no greater treasure than our time. Once it is spent it can never be recovered or replaced. So in addition to thinking about with whom I am spending my time, perhaps I should also think about on what I am spending my time. Do the top ways I spend my time reflect where I want my heart to be?
Taking Time to Know God
The Baltimore Catechism asks, “Why did God make me?” The response is, “God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.” Perhaps this is a good place to start in taking a critical look at where we store our treasure of time. Does your use of time help you to know God, to love God, and to serve God?
It is tempting to object to this analysis because the bulk of our time is often devoted to necessities like earning a living and caring for family. It is true that the broad categories of how we spend our time are often dictated to us by circumstances beyond our control. While the necessities of life may limit the choices of how we spend our time, we do control how wisely we use the time spent accomplishing these required tasks.
For example, we get to know God by seeing Him in the world around us. Ask yourself the following questions: Do I seek the Face of Christ in each person that crosses my path? Do I avoid gossip and treat each coworker or family member with kindness and dignity? I love God when I love my neighbor, so are all my interactions grounded in this love?
Meeting our work and family obligations can also be a form of serving God. Do I see my work as an offering for the glory of God? When I have a task that I enjoy doing, does my heart fill with gratitude to God for the opportunity to please Him with my joyful labor? When I have a difficult or unpleasant assignment, do I willingly offer up my efforts as a sacrifice or perhaps a prayer of atonement? As Blessed Teresa of Calcutta said, “Work does not stop prayer, and prayer does not stop work.” No matter what our occupation is, it can be time spent helping us know God, love God, and serve God.
Spending Free Time in His Presence
We should turn this same critical eye to our leisure time. There is no question that we need to take time to relax and recharge. But perhaps we need to go back and rethink how we approach the luxury of free time. I am a notorious multitasker. It is not unusual for me to couple my commute to and from work or my leisure gardening and exercising with prayer. That is fine as far as it goes, but what is missing is giving God my total undivided attention.
Is there a better way renew ourselves than placing ourselves in the presence of God? To know God means to listen to God and to do that we need stillness. Pope Francis emphasized this in a recent General Audience:
We are all taken up by the frenetic pace of daily life, often at the mercy of feeling dazed and confused. It is necessary to learn how to rediscover the path to our heart, to recover the value of intimacy and silence, because the God who encounters us and speaks to us is there. Only by beginning there can we in our turn encounter others and speak with them.
What would it take for me to find twenty to thirty minutes every day to put myself in the presence of God? How much time do I spend right now on social media, online games, or watching mindless television shows? Is it really impossible to unplug for twenty minutes and give my full attention to God? Get up ten minutes earlier and cut ten minutes off my Facebook time and I am there! But so often I do not choose to do this. My heart is not with God so I do not make the effort to store the treasure of my time with Him either.
Notice what action Pope Francis advocates after we encounter God. We are to turn and encounter others and speak to them. This does not mean texting them or messaging them or liking their social media posts. This means truly being present to them. If my heart is with my neighbors after it has been with God, then I will invest my treasure of time with them. I will make the time to see them, to listen to them, to know them, and to love them.
Our Heart is Restless
It is easy to drift along and allow time to be consumed, giving little thought as to where it is going. Just as those who spend their money with little planning find themselves saddled with luxuries and lacking basic necessities, failure to bring some order and intention to how we spend our time can leave us busy with shallow pursuits while neglecting the truly important things in life.
Take some time to think about your treasure of time and where you store it. It will tell you where your heart is right now. St. Augustine said, “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” If your heart does not rest with God, consider where you store your treasure. Pray for the grace to better allocate your time and bring your heart into His presence.
