A Christian's Orientation to Time

Recently I've been thinking about my perspective of time. How do I see it? Am I past, present, or future-oriented? How does this orientation influence the decisions I make daily? I have to credit Philip Zimbardo for stimulating my thinking in this area; but my Heavenly Father is the one who ultimately initiated this and I went searching the web for articles related to how Christians view time using the search string "a Christian's orientation to time."

Before I share more about theory, let me share two experiences.

(1) I found it quite interesting--one of those moments when you wonder what God is trying to say--that last week during my evening prayer time, my clock fell down off the wall and shattered on the ground. Why did it have to fall during my prayer time? Why did the clock fall and shatter instead of the four pictures that are below it? One thing you must know is that often my prayer time, and whole relationship with God, can be very dutiful. I have been recently praying for an hour in the evenings, and sometimes, I glance at the clock hoping the time will end. This is nothing new for me. But what does that say about my intimacy with Father? When I attended a workshop on relational skills, I was introduced to a concept called "relationship killers." One of those is frequently looking at one's watch while spending time with another. It seems this is often what I do in my devotional times. And while this does not "kill" my relationship with my Father because of Jesus' work on the cross, praise Him, I do believe there is much more in terms of having an intimate relationship with Him.

(2) Yesterday two friends came and cooked together in my apartment. While we were shopping at the market and cooking at my place, I got very frustrated. I realized it was because I felt like we very being very inefficient. I wanted to study Chinese during the evening, and at the rate we were going, I'd never get anything done (and I didn't). This frustration really affected my attitude towards them. I grew impatient with one of them and was not particularly loving nor gentle. I was convicted of that this morning and called to apologize.

As I have been reading articles about time and thinking through it, I realize that I'm extremely future-oriented. I fit all the descriptions of a future-oriented person: I'm frequently thinking about meeting goals; right now those regard learning Chinese. I tend to save money, delay gratification, study hard in school, take care of my body (floss, take vitamins, exercise), think much about efficiency (I just bought a bike saving me 20 minutes on my daily commute) and struggle with anxiety. While some of these are good, I can tell that my orientation causes me to squeeze out relationships and miss out on some of the joys of the present. Future-oriented people can also become workaholics if not careful. Christ did not have such an orientation. Not that He floated in the wind; He most surely had direction and purpose. But I believe He was willing to be "bothered" by someone in need and to take out the necessary time for relationships and discipleship. I'm not there yet. But thankfully, Father has His hand on me in this area, and thus I am sure I will grow.

For a brief introduction and to get your mind thinking more along these lines, here's a good video to get you started:  FORA.tv - Philip Zimbardo: The Time Paradox. Feel free to comment...

Here are some questions I'm asking:
* when does a future orientation go too far?
* how does one balance living in the present and yet oriented towards the future?
* what is it about my family, culture, and education that has contributed to such an extreme future-orientation?

Blessings...