Time is our greatest commodity. We lose it an alarming rate. Perhaps. Perhaps we can make time as well as lose it.
Here’s an interesting take on the preciousness of time:
Whenever my husband, Ben, does minor work on the car, he invites our 6-year-old grandson, Jake, to help.
One day Jake’s dad asked him, “What does Grandpa pay you for all that help you give him?”
“Grandpa pays me attention.”
As we approach Ellul, the month that is a prelude to the New Year, we ought to become aware of the impermanence and flux of time. It is a time to consider. Another year has passed. Have we been paying attention?
Our task is not to ask what has changed since last Rosh Hashanah but how have we changed?
Yes, we have all grown older. A few more lines. Some of us have more money than last year, others less. Health never seems to be static. Age has brought vigor or a diminution of strength. The face that stares back at us in the mirror is significantly different than a year ago but what about what is inside, behind the visage?
In one study of time scientists determined that when we are fully engaged in life, time goes by slowly. For example, as children an hour seemed like a lifetime because we were so immersed in the wonder to the moment. When we are disengaged, perhaps bored, times streams by and we gasp at where the year, or decade, went.
The aim of a life well-lived would then seem to be one where we are challenged by opportunities, relationships, and new ideas. The ebb of life will lessen while the flow of life increases.
This would seem to be the aim of new month of Ellul which is often taken as an anagram, “I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine” (Ani l’dodi v’dodi li). God wants us to be partnered with Him. We know that living a meaningful life each day should involve bringing us new learning and greater insights. To be beloved of God is to act in concert with the Divine mitzvot. It is about what we do.
Advisory: Life is not about feeling good. Good feelings are fleeting. When you bought that expensive item, it felt good but that feeling was only buttressed or maintained when you went out and bought the next item. And the next. The same goes for drugs, liquor or anything that brings a momentary high. Feeling good should not be the engine that drives our lives.
Life is about doing good. We are supposed to leave this world in better shape than we found it. Will this be said of us when we pass from this world? Will God reckon that we have done well with our allotment of time?
So, as we walk closer to the end of this year and the opening of a new one what has changed? How are we different? And, most importantly, what new goals will we set for ourselves to live a quality life where each moment is another opportunity to grow in moral stature?
It may be as simple as paying attention like the grandfather. It might involve determining if we have kosher mezzuzot on our doors. Learning some Torah. Helping someone in need.
May we all be worthy of being called “beloved” in the eyes of the Almighty by how we live this year with goodness and integrity. May this be our desire as the clock of life ticks.
