A laundry cycle that will begin again all too soon. For you see, although these clothes are clean, he will, very soon, wear them and then spit up on them. And the cycle will begin again—undress him, open his closet door, get a clean onesie, throw the dirty onesie in the washbasket, empty the washbasket into the washer, empty the washer into the dryer, empty the dryer into the clean laundry basket, fold the clothes, open the closet door and put them away—an endless repetition. But not the only endless repetition in my life. Far from it. There are the dishes, meal preparation, dusting, vacuuming, mopping, and the list goes on. Which brings me to my thoughts on Time. They are not my thoughts. They were a study my dad did on Ecclesiastes that my sister was in on and she shared them with me. I found them to be just what I needed at this season of my life and so I’m writing them down as a way to remember and use them.
Time is: The realm in which we live. Everything is controlled and revolves around time. It is inescapable. God created time, he owns time and he has given time to us as a gift. Time is the most valuable thing we have. With time we can experience friendship, and love, make money etc. Without time there is no life.
As we live in this realm of time we come to realize that our lives are made of endless repetitions. That is to what the phrase, “vanity of vanity” refers in Ecclesiastes. The man without God realizes this and despairs of meaning. He reasons, “Life is meaningless made up of endless inescapable repetitions. Therefore I must find what pleasure I can by whatever means as a way to escape this meaningless repetition.”
The Christian has a different response.
1. He first realizes that his meaning and contentment come from God. These are also gifts God gives to man. We cannot find contentment in the seasons or even callings of life. We must find contentment in the person of our Lord and Savior.
2. He then acknowledges that life is made of repetition. But instead of despairing, he embraces this as God’s plan and purpose. Instead of thumbing his nose at the cycles of life he should ask himself, “What does the Lord have for me to learn about Him, about me, about others through these repetitions?” “How can I reflect the beauty, order, care, love of my creator by the way I do the laundry over and over?”
3. He realizes that time on earth is a time of seasons. Like it says in Ecclesiastes 3. Our lives will go through all kinds of seasons. These seasons are not random. They come and go by order of a sovereign God. Each season of life will bring with it opportunities and limitations. Just as each season of the year has both opportunities and limitations. Winter is wonderful for snowmen and summer brings the beauty of crepe myrtles. The one who refuses to embrace the snowmen in winter because he longs to see the crepe myrtle blooms is a pitiable creature. So too are we if instead of embracing the season of life God has for us and rejoicing in it we long for something different.
4. Finally, at least finally for this blog, the Christian lives in light of the truth that there is life after death. The implication of eternity in a realm of time is that the Christian does not have to scurry around seeking to experience all there is to experience in the here and now. He can be at peace, embracing all that God brings in each season of life while knowing that those experiences are but the tip of fuller and greater experiences that will go on for the rest of his eternal existence in the presence of his good and glorious Father.
What that means for me is that I will try not to look at the repetition of laundry and dishes and spit up as something that is bad or bothersome. It is what God has for me now. It is a season that brings with it the most heart-warming smiles of a sweet little boy and the love of a wonderful man.
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