Siblings in Christ,
A phrase I often find myself saying is, “the time goes by either way.” If someone comes to me for advice to help decided if they should go back to school, take the vacation this year instead of next year, have a baby now or wait 3 years, I will often answer with, “the time goes by either way.”
When I went back for my masters in therapy I had a few friends tell me that it is not just the 2 years of school, but then the 2 years of post grad work and the year of studying for the clinical test all wrapped into the degree. “The time goes by either way.”
That is the way I’ve felt about the past few years. We had a pandemic that had everything screech to a halt for months, and the time went by anyway. Our institutions needed to respond, time didn’t pause for us to get our grounding. When someone major in our life dies we want everything to freeze with us, but time goes by even without that person there, even when it feels like everything should stop - it doesn’t, time goes by either way.
That feels most true in the summer. The days a longer but go by so much quicker. We look for ways to reconnect with people we haven't seen for months, or maybe years, because… well… time goes on either way. I got out of a meeting at 8pm the other night and the sun was starting to set. I got use to the three weeks where the sun sets after 9pm. I found myself getting grumpy and thinking, “summer is already over.” But, it’s not. It is just a sign that time keeps going on. The sun changes position, the length of the day changes, and they days tick by from the summer solstice to the winter solstice like it has since the beginning of time, because the time goes by either way.
For all the graduates in our congregation this year - they used the time they had to work toward a career, a new job, to learn more on a topic that interest them. When they walked across their various stages this spiring to receive diplomas they worked so hard for, I’m sure there was one or two who thought they would never see the day or felt like four years would take forever, and yet, it also flew by.
This month we also baptize a baby into the family of God. SHe will have sponsors and her parents make promises to raise her in the faith and then one day it will be her choice to affirm that baptism and make that commitment for herself, in 12 long years - years that will fly by if promises are kept or not, if commitments are made or not.
That is the thing about this life God gave to us. We can’t hit pause. We can’t rewind. We can’t slow things down just because we had a crappy year, or maybe 3. The time goes by either way. As you are enjoying your time this summer season, know that we here at Acacia are making plans for the fall including beginning Bible Study and Sunday School up in September. We are looking for ways to get us out together as a congregation by going to movies or out for lunch together. The past 3 years went by with us in our homes, with us adapting plans. Let us look forward to the next few years and dream where we will be as a congregation in a short time, because the time goes by either way.
In Christ,
Pastor Meagan Sherman-Sporrong
