Time

Every day we are engaged in a process of give and take - with ourselves, others and our environment. We have fairly well formed ideas about what it means to give and take. We not only understand, but feel this process.

One seemingly paradoxical instance of this process struck me recently: talking and listening.

I had previously thought of talking as giving, and listening as receiving, and I suppose in some ways it is, but I think there's a bit more to it than that.

Being heard and known to others is an important part of being in community and feeling fully human. When I feel heard; that is to say, when someone has listened to me, I have most certainly received something. And conversely, when I have listened to someone, I have definitely given something.

What is it though, that we are giving and receiving? Well, I think there are a few things: time, effort, attentiveness, energy, care. I imagine the list is extensive, but finding (making!) time to be meaningfully present with another is clearly at the heart of the exchange.

I appreciate each individual person has different needs, and while this exchange seems more valuable to some than others, there are surely few gifts of greater worth than time. It is a commodity we all have (some in greater measure than others) and spend in one way or another.

How indebted we are to those significant people in our lives whose gift of time has shaped and transformed us into who we are today! And what greater responsibility do we have than to spend it wisely?