“This is a Time to Remember” sang Billie Joel.
From before I could tell it, I heard it. The tick tock world I was born into included mice running wild (Hickory Dickory) and a large piece of furniture which ‘stopped short, never to go again’ when a grandfather died. Thankfully I was protected from the full understanding of these terrifying tales by my immaturity.
I remember standing proudly on stage as part of the junior school choir singing “Fill the World with Love”. We sang about the morning, noontime and evening of my life and I heard it and I felt it.
High School poetry brought with it the sound of “Time’s winged chariot hurrying near”. Although Marvell the poet was trying to convince his coy mistress to have sex, I was left with the feeling of a low flying vehicle hovering above and behind me reminding me to make the most of it.
Later my biological clock would add to the noise but in between there have been beautiful moments of ‘stopping the clock’ so to speak. While I know how ‘Time waits for no man (or woman) it is in those precious moments that I have felt fully present. And yes, we all know that there is no time like the present.
In those moments of great love or beauty and being grateful I have stolen the words of Louis MacNeice and made them part of my faith.
“God or whatever means the Good
Be praised that time can stop like this”.
Since March 2020 it has stopped. Differentiating the days of the week has been a conscious effort for many as the weeks have become months and we have been left to wonder about when we would get to touch and travel and thrive. When would it be time?
One of the many lessons that my precious father taught me was to never wish time away. I try not to and I have taught this to my children.
Because as Billy continues “it will not last forever”.
In My Head 