Thought for the Week

A YOUNG friend of mine has a new watch.

I have never seen anything quite like it, as it has only one hand, and that is the minute hand.

The hour number is displayed at the top, and there is no second hand. According to the philosophy of the designer: ‘Nothing worthwhile is measured in seconds.’

I thought about this for quite a while until finally I decided that I totally disagree with this concept.

We seem to live in an age where everything is rushed. We make cars that go faster, fibre optic broadband that connects us more quickly, air travel that whisks us across the world in just a few hours. What is all the rush? One thing I have learned about living here in Argyll is the value of time, and yes, even of every second.

Much can happen in a second. We can catch a glimpse of a fleeting moment of beauty in a second: we can have a magical connection with a youngster in a second: we can catch a dream in a second: we can fall in love: we can know the heartbeat between life and death. And all in a second.

Our lives can change in a second, so how can nothing worthwhile be measured in seconds?

Ralph Waldo Emerson said: ‘For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind.’

Every moment of life is precious, so maybe we should appreciate these fleeting seconds, spend the minutes more wisely, the hours more gratefully and the days more generously. God gifts us 86,400 seconds every day. Let us use even just a few to give thanks.