New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Life is too short to spend precious moments in conflict
We often hear people use the phrase “I ain’t got time for this” when they are annoyed. Perhaps it’s a phrase that should only be applied to the stuff that’s keeping us apart from the ones we are called to love.
My wife and I enjoy the electronic picture display that sits atop our kitchen counter. Rotating images from our family album provide a vivid reminder of the circle of life and the reality of human mortality. At any given moment, we might see photos of our late parents and grandparents or more recent images of our beloved grandchildren flash across the screen. They evoke all kinds of memories, producing smiles and sometimes, the urge to shed a tear.
Time is fleeting. In another 20 years, the grandchildren pictured today will be grown and hopefully have families of their own. Who but God knows if my wife and I will still be on this side of heaven by then. If not, we pray our images will be the ones evoking smiles of joy and tremors of sadness that go hand-inhand with a sense of loss.
The relentless passage of time should remind us how important it is to not allow anger to steal the precious remaining time we have to spend with one another, especially our spouses and other family members.
Long after the apostle Paul cautioned us to not let the sun go down on our wrath, (Ephesians 4:26), the Beatles captured a similar notion with these lyrics: “Life is very short, and there’s no time for fussing and fighting, my friend.”
If you’re old enough to have been musically aware in 1965, you just sang that line in your head, didn’t you? We can work it out! Reconciliation, both horizontally and vertically with some sense of urgency is a key aspect of the message of Christ.
My wife and I have known each other for 49 years. Only God knows how much time we have left together. It’s a morbid thought, but of this we are certain; there really is no time for fussing and fighting. When we have those moments of disagreement and even animosity toward one another, we are committed to getting past them as quickly as possible. Divorce has never been part of our vocabulary. I judge no one who has experienced divorce. It’s not ideal, but it happens. My mother was divorced twice. But for me and my wife, our personal conviction is to redeem the time and work out anything that tries to get between us.
The Beatles had it right. There’s no time for fussing and fighting; less time today than there was yesterday. The older we get, the more we become aware of how short life really is! And the Apostle Paul’s wisdom is profound. We should not wake up on any given morning with anger left over from the night before. And if an issue can’t be fully resolved without further discussion, we resolve to stay in love and sleep in peace as we commit to working toward full reconciliation.
We often hear people use the phrase “I ain’t got time for this” when they are annoyed. Perhaps it’s a phrase that should only be applied to the stuff that’s keeping us apart from the ones we are called to love. In whatever time we have, we don’t have time for strife. Is there anything you need to release before the next sun sets? You can work it out. You must work it out. By faith, you shall work it out!