ON MISSING the date that I was supposed to provide this comment, it made me reflect on ‘Time’.

As a child, time seemed to be endless, especially when you were looking forward to birthdays, Christmas, and seaside holidays.

On starting school, the process started to restrict the amount of free time and the playtimes and school holidays were eagerly awaited.

Starting work, one becomes even busier and time seems to speed up to meet the increasing number of deadlines.

Holiday breaks were even more eagerly awaited.

Then retirement suddenly looms, and the thoughts of ‘What am I going to do?’.

‘Is time going to drag?’

I decided to have an allotment, thinking there would be plenty of time to look after it, and keep it tidy.

But that only lasted a few years before I realised that my expectations of spare time did not materialise.

Other things, responsibilities, and opportunities come along, including holidays, to fill the time and suddenly you wonder whether you have ‘retired’ at all.

Then your thoughts switch to: ‘Where has all the time gone?’ and ‘Will I ever retire?

The times of setting the meteorological seasons has been regularly stressed during weather forecasts.

This system is based on the year’s months (ie autumn is declared as September, October, and November). Logically, one would have thought, that the changes should take place halfway between the solstices and equinox’s.

But this is too complicated for comparing statistics, because the dates for these events can changes up to two or three days either side of the 21st depending on the position of the Earth in our solar system.

A recent ‘daily reading’ was talking about time being so precious that we should be very careful how we spend it.

Various notes written on the 11th chapter of Ecclesiastes, indicate that we should:

a) Live supportive lives and be responsible to work with others;

b) Live with a generous heart and be responsive to the needs of those around us;

c) Always think of others and act in a way that we are taught in the Bible.

An old hymn: ”Take Time to be Holy – Speak oft with the Lord.” was always at the back of my mind while writing this comment.

It sums up the way we can work through those three points, as we spend time living our lives.