Many years ago, while studying under the tutelage of Michael Loukinen, a sociology professor at Norther Michigan University, I learned the importance and limitations of time. We were studying Finnish immigrants, and the ways they established themselves in this new country eking out a living in the harsh climate of the U.P. (Upper Peninsula). We paid particular attention to how they used their time after working twelve hours a day in the mines. With limited time, they learned to share tools, and assisted each other in the plowing of fields and harvesting of crops. The women too quilted, canned, and “made wood” in groups. Our research pointed out that time limited the number of people immigrants could establish as “good friends.” Making and keeping friends takes time. So, how we use our time and what we use it for substantially determines whether we will achieve our goals or not.
Modern life has offered us new tools to increase the “production” of each person. Yet at the same time each person experiences a greater expectation in what they are able to accomplish. Greater expectations result in greater demands.
So what’s the point? Just this; with more and more demands and no increase of time, goals become harder and harder to reach. This truth is not only true of individuals but for groups, corporations, organizations and Churches alike.
It is important to be clear about just what our goal is. But I am not so certain that we have a common goal any longer. My understanding of the goal of the Gospel is the SALVATION of the world. John 3:16. The “tool” given to the Church to accomplish this goal is the GOOD NEWS. But much, if not most of the time we spend working in the Church is spent on self-maintenance, which is not the same thing as spreading the Good News. Consequently, we become less and less likely to achieve the goal set out for us in the Gospel. Therefore, anything that consumes TIME that distracts us from that goal is antithetical to the purpose of the Gospel. Still, day by day the time for sharing the Good News is eroded by tasks we place higher on the agenda, and the Western Church clearly shows the devasting results of that approach.
Some years ago, I remember reading the book “The Frog in the Kettle.” The author described what happened when you dropped a frog in a pot of hot water…it jumped out. But if the frog was placed in a pot of cold water which was being heated ever so slowly, the frog would remain in the pot until its death. Do you think this could be analogous to what is happening in the Church today? We push more paper, fill out more reports, attend more meetings, and are deluged with more information, yet the Church continues to shrink and there is hardly enough TIME to do the “Important” things like watch the Chiefs, give our new easy chair a good workout, plan our next vacation, etc. while the temperature in the pot continues to rise.
Time is the gift of God and the use of it is called stewardship. We continue to use it care-less-ly. Had those Finnish farmers in Northern Michigan followed this approach, they would have starved to death in a cold room alone.
“The big problem that confronts Christianity is not Christ’s enemies. Persecution has never done much harm to the inner life of the Church. The real religious problem exists in the souls of those of us, who in their hearts, believe in God, and who recognize their obligation to love Him and serve Him—yet do not!” –Thomas Merton
Because they were just too busy and ran out of time. 
