Time Not Wasted

When it comes to drinking coffee, I like to think my order is pretty simple. I get an iced coffee with just a splash of oat milk. That’s it, nothing crazy. However, that’s not the norm for most people. Spend any time in line waiting for your coffee and you will hear some pretty detailed and long orders. If you think your order is long, let’s see if it holds up to the world record.

This order has the record for the longest coffee order at a Starbucks: A double ristretto Venti, half-soy, nonfat, decaf, organic chocolate brownie, iced vanilla, double-shot Gingerbread Frappuccino, extra hot with foam, whipped cream, upside down, double blended, one Sweet’N Low, one NutraSweet, and light ice.

Now that is an order.

It seems like the world gets a little more complicated every day, and what I am finding is that the busier life gets, the noisier it gets. Perhaps that is why I love this liturgical season known as Lent.

Lent – the 40 days (not including Sundays) leading up to Easter – is a time of digging into the following spiritual practices: fasting, prayer and repentance. Many people will give up something for Lent, while others may commit to adding something. Either way, the purpose is the same. In our own sacrifice, we’re reminded of Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice of love that He made for us all.

Lent is a beautiful and sacred time to re-center, refocus and remember that in a world full of noise, distractions and limitless choices, there is great power in the reminder that less will always be more.

In the Gospel of Mark you read the following, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35). In fact, we see that, “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:16).

I find it important to remember that Jesus, though He was fully God, was also fully human, and if He saw the need to get away from the noise of the day and spend time in the presence of His Abba Father, shouldn’t we? After all, it was that time He spent in prayer and seeking out the Father’s heart that He also found the answers and direction to all of the questions that the day had in store for Him.

Today, perhaps we take a lesson from Jesus.

Perhaps less is more.

What I am finding is this: Time spent in the quiet, sitting at the feet of Jesus, is never time wasted.