Got Time?

These past two days I have attended a large gathering for pastors . . . one of those events that is designed to inspire us, provoke us, encourage us, and educate us. Well, maybe.

I do enjoy seeing familiar faces and talking with colleagues I have not encountered for some time. This year, I met some new friends, too.

Inevitably, however, when I am in a larger company of pastors, someone will ask a question like: "How do you find time to write all your junk?"

This year, I had four such questions posed. One was, "When do you write?" Another was, "How do you manage it?" And the other two were similar: "How do you find the time?"

The question of time has always been an interesting one to me. I could ask the same question of anyone, from any walk of life, and in any line of work. I could ask, for example: "How do you have time to watch three hours of television each night?" or "How do you have time to spend two hours on the road each day driving to and from YOUR work?" or "How do you have time to watch NCAA basketball, pro football, or a Pacers game four nights a week?"

I mean, the question of time isn't really about time at all. It is about choices. I might even say that it is about priorities or desires or passions. Some folks like watching four hours of television each night. Sometimes I do it, too. Some folks like spending hours in a summer garden, or hiking each evening, or even talking in a restaurant or a bar (some do it all night).

Me? It's not about time. I just like to write. And so my answer is simple: "I just do what I do because that's what I do every morning and every night (most days)." And, of course, if one does something every day, in time one manages to get a whole lot accomplished. I hope I do this in my pastoral work, in my family, in my writing. I just work it, baby. But it's not the time that produces anything. It's the actual work, the doing.