TIME MAN OF THE YEAR

“For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem for the day of Pentecost.” (Acts 20:16)

NOTE: “...for he hasted...” would be better translated, “for he was hurrying”.

The whole “time” thing IS cultural. If you’ve been to a third world country, especially sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, or the Caribbean, you know that nobody is in a hurry there. If someone says, “I’ll see you at 8 o’clock in the morning,” they might show up at 8:30 and they might even show up at 9:30. Time is just no big deal. In most “western” countries, time IS a big deal. You may know that in the late 1800s, time was standardized due to railroads and the the importance of keeping to exact times on the train schedule (known as the “timetable”). Western culture has thus learned to run “on the clock”. Beginning around 1900, factories had exact time schedules, often regulated by a whistle blowing. Around that time, schools also got on exact time schedules with bells ringing to designate the beginning and ending of class periods.

I have taken a lot of “flack” through the years because I’m kind of a stickler about time. When I began as pastor of First Assembly of God of Framingham in the “ancient” days of 1987, the church was in the habit of arriving late for everything. I began drilling into them that I start on time. It took, TIME, but things got better. Now, for virtually every class, service, and meeting, I start on time and most people are present. Even so, there are always SOME people who arrive late. I am surprised that a few are chronically late, but I just try to deal with it. My first pastor in the Assemblies of God was Lloyd A. Westover. He’s dead. During the years he was my pastor in the 1970s he was probably in his 60s. He used to write “YOU’RE LATE!” in large letters on the chalkboard of his Sunday School class. As much as that’s tempting to do, I won’t go quite that far!

Another pastor I knew, “D.C.M.” (who is a reader of this blog) used to say, “If you’re not FIFTEEN MINUTES EARLY, YOU’RE LATE!” I actually tend to agree with that. Even so, these two pastors; actually, THREE if you count me, are NOT typical of most ministers when it comes to punctuality. It’s embarrassing, but I find that MOST pastors are HABITUALLY late for everything! This is true for “liberal” clergy (the Unitarians and such) as well as the theologically conservative evangelicals...for Catholics, for Jewish rabbis and cantors, nearly ALL clergy are habitually late. I think all of them should have had D.C.M. for a boss or Lloyd A. Westover for a pastor...it might have straightened them out! Seriously, clergy are usually trying to multi-task to a ridiculous degree. They’ll take a phone call (on the church office phone) from a Board member or a talkative parishioner at 10 minutes before 12 when they have a meeting at Noon three miles across Town. Thus, the clergyperson arrives at the meeting at 12:35 profusely apologizing... although five colleagues arrived at the meeting just 2 minutes earlier!

I think whether you’re a clergyperson, a layperson, or just a person-person, you should be punctual! Sure, we all get that occasional flat tire or that toilet flooding the bathroom that makes us late. But tardiness should not become a chronic situation!

My father was constantly late. My mother used to say that her Dad called him, “The late Mr. Baril” because he was always late. Well, now he really IS “The late Mr. Baril” in the literal sense, but I hated that our family was always late for everything! My Dad never seemed to allow for TRAVEL time. If he had to be in Winthrop (just north of Boston) at 3 p.m., he’d leave Canton (a few miles south of Boston) at 2:55 and almost be surprised that he wasn’t in Winthrop until almost 4. He did that sort of thing all the time. When Mary Ann and I got married in 1982, my mother told him the wedding was at 1 so he’d be there by 2 which was the actual time of the ceremony!

Now, I know some of you were expecting a piece about President Obama as Time’s 2008 Man of the Year, and I’m sorry if I disappointed you. But if this piece motivates YOU to be ON TIME for appointments and commitments this year, I’ll consider YOU to be MY “Time Man (or Woman) of the Year for 2009!”