January 9: Killing Some Time

At the moment, I'm killing some time with my son at the office, waiting for my daughter to get done with her dance class.  It is a strange and violent expression, "killing some time."  It calls to mind images of stalking, hunting, and execution.  It also calls to mind the idea that this time is something useless and unwanted.  It is true that I'm sort of in limbo right now, unable really to do anything productive besides type this blog post.  I can't go to Wal-Mart to buy a needed item for my medicine cabinet; I don't have enough time for that.  I can't go visit my friend, Keith, and his wife, Gloria; by the time I had my son's winter jacket was off and my shoes unlaced, I'd have to lace them back up and dress my son again.  Once more, not enough time.  So, in many ways, I'm time's hostage this evening.

As I watch my son play on my i-Pad, I realize that his concept of time is completely different from mine.  The time he is spending playing some game called Minecraft of Mind Craft or Mined Craft right now probably seems infinite to him.  I could tell him, "Ten more minutes and we have to go pick up Sissy," and he would probably say "Okay" without even really knowing the difference between ten minutes and ten hours.  He just knows that in some segment of time from now, we will have to leave to pick up his sister at the dance studio.  I imagine all of his days are adventures in time.  The time from when he wakes up to the time he gets on the school bus.  The time from when he arrives at school to the time he eats his breakfast.  The time from when he eats his breakfast to the time his bladder tells him he has to go to the bathroom.  Those are his measurements of time.

I think I prefer his concept of time.  It's friendlier.  Less stressful.  No time clock to punch.  No looking at the calendar and thinking, "I have only five more days of vacation left."  No deadlines to meet.  Just Minecraft and waffles and bus rides and cheese cubes and baths.

Saint Marty has a lot to learn from his son.

Not killing any more time