The Monday Edition
The Evangelical Pope | The Hourglass … Time Belongs to God
Living Words from John Paul II
Edited by Abraham A. van Kempen
Published Sunday, 26 January 2020
Each week we let Saint Pope John Paul II share meaningful signposts to spark socio-economic resolves through justice and righteousness combined with mercy and compassion; in short, love.
Hamburg, Germany, 23 May 2000 | Our ancestors measured time with the hourglass. Today, digital and quartz clocks are used. Their advantage is that they can measure time right down to the second. However, modern clocks fail to communicate a message the hourglass vividly expresses: the sand trickling from the upper bulb to the lower. The trickling of the sand can be compared to the fate of time. Time passes; it has an end. It flows and runs out. It is like the limited number of years we are given.
A few weeks ago, I was able to celebrate my 80th birthday … the festive days organized for me were an opportunity above all to thank God, my Creator, for having given me life. God is a generous giver: in giving life, he also gives time. The time we have available to us is a gift from God. Managing time has much to do with faith. God has time.
What we do with this gift depends on us. People can waste time or lose it; they can squander it or even kill it. But there are also other possibilities. Time is given to us so that we can use it and fill it.
Time well used is so valuable that we can give it away as a precious gift. If the proverb says: "Time is money", then Christ replies: "Time cannot be bought with money. Time is worth more than gold".
I urge you, dear brothers and sisters, be generous with your time! Give it to each other: pastors to their parishes and parishes to their pastors, husbands to their wives and vice versa, children to their parents, young people to the elderly, the healthy to the sick, one to another. Whoever gives time to others is giving them life.
May unity be an important value for you! Do not let yourselves be divided by any earthly power … My prayer for you is that what St Paul wrote to the Romans may be fulfilled: "May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another … that together you may with one voice glorify God … " (Romans 15: 5-6).
Once again, I return to the hourglass, which contains yet another valuable message. The sand which trickles from the upper bulb to the lower does not only indicate the passage of time. The sand is also a messenger of Christian hope, for it does not fall into a void. It is gathered in the lower bulb.
The bulbs of an hourglass remind me of God's hands stretched out to us. We can abandon ourselves into his hands. They gather up our time. Time lies in God's hands.
Abraham A. van Kempen is Sr. Editor of the Building the Bridge Foundation, The Hague.
LATEST OPEN LETTERS
-
05-06A Call to Action: Uniting for a Lasting Peace in the Holy Land
-
28-05Concerned world citizen
-
13-02World Peace
-
05-12My scream to the world
-
16-11To Syria and Bashar al-Assad
-
16-11To Palestine
-
24-10Japan should withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations (UN), WHO's controlling parent body, to protect the basic human rights and lives of its citizens.
-
09-08Open Letter to António Guterres: Will the UN Protect Our Rights and End Our Suffering?
-
09-06Urgent Appeal
-
07-05Protect Our Great Earth And Nation!
VIRTUAL POST OFFICE
PETITIONS
LINKS
DONATION
Latest Blog Articles
-
05-12Our Friday News Analysis | What the World Reads Now!
-
04-12Our Wednesday News Analysis | ‘Genocide’ vs ‘Bigger Genocide’ in Gaza: Time to Decolonize Our Minds
-
03-12‘Genocide’ vs ‘Bigger Genocide’ in Gaza: Time to Decolonize Our Minds
-
03-12Opinion | Israel vs. the Israeli People: The State Was Supposed to Protect Us. Instead, It Turned on Us
-
03-12Diaries from north Gaza: one woman’s story of survival
-
02-12The Evangelical Pope | Turn to the Creator … Build a Civilization Born of Truth and Love
-
28-11Our Friday News Analysis | What the World Reads Now!
-
27-11Our Wednesday News Analysis | World reacts to ICC arrest warrants for Israel’s Netanyahu, Gallant
-
26-11World reacts to ICC arrest warrants for Israel’s Netanyahu, Gallant
-
26-11When we are faced with annihilation, Palestinians must either resist or become extinct
-
26-11The entire history of Zionism’s injustices, in one Bedouin village
Latest Comments
-
One of the most important and illuminating articles that I …
Comment by Benjamin Inbaraj -
And what's wrong here?
After all, there is the homeland …
Comment by Isac Boian -
Does this reinforce or deny my argument that Israel is …
Comment by Edward Campbell -
Many 'say' they support the Palestinian cause but do little …
Comment by Philip McFedries -
The UN is strangled by the "war for profit" cabal …
Comment by Philip McFedries -
I can't read the printing on the map.
Comment by Philip McFedries -
Good news!
Comment by Philip McFedries
COMMENTS
This article has 0 comments at this time. We invoke you to participate the discussion and leave your comment below. Share your opinion and let the world know.