How we experience time is an interesting thing. As a child, I always remember each day felt so long. Every single little thing stood out. Life was so full. Every experience was exciting and there was never enough time in the day for all of them. The details of the world around me were so vivid. I didn’t want to miss anything! Sleep felt like such a bother. I used to ask “Can’t we just skip over this part?” My poor mother!

8-year-old Anna’s logic was that adults–who are of course so much wiser and lucky to stay up even later than me–experienced an even longer day! Right? No?

Fast forward a year or two or twenty and I feel like I blinked and it is already Christmas! Time flies by. I blink and another week has already gone by.

Why does time fly by so quickly now, but when we were children, time seemed to move at a glacial pace? I think it is because as children we were constantly having new experiences. We never knew what was coming so every second of attention counted. 

It is easy to say that being bound by a schedule, by deadlines, by the demands of the world and society around us – to feel like so much is already scripted for us, to the point that we already know what will come next. We are called here to be vigilant and prepared. We are called to embrace the reality that we don’t know what is next, and live in that place of discomfort in not knowing but still being called to pay attention because, at any moment, anywhere, our Lord could come into our lives.  

If only 8 year old Anna knew how wise she really was; to take in everything, to see the big and the small. That said, I have been blessed with a life lived without persecution, without war, or hate. I can only imagine being asked to stay attentive and vigilant, maintain your faith and rituals, while experiencing homelessness, being persecuted and feeling abandoned by your god. In both Isaiah and Psalms, the Israelites are crying out for God, they feel abandoned. There is a larger picture, so have patience.

We are all children of God. There are exciting new things taking place all around us, so we need to be watchful. We never know what might be coming around the corner.