she always does – tell, that is – but why is she so slow about doing it?  Time certainly takes her sweet time about speaking up.

When time talks, telling us her stories and teaching us with her wisdom – we call that history.  We are supposed to learn from history, with Time as our teacher and Hindsight providing us with that 20/20 vision necessary to see things clearly.  Maybe that’s why Time so often takes her time in speaking up, she wants us to have that perfect perspective, that only Hindsight and Time can give us, with her passing, allowing us to understand events and individuals otherwise incomprehensible to us.

Time will tell, that is true.  And Time has a lot to say.  After all, she has seen it all.  She was there, sitting in her front row seat, taking it all in.  Time has been an eyewitness to all of history.  Now it’s time for Time to share her best kept secrets, to reveal what has remained hidden and to tell the truth.

Sometimes Time does that.  An archaeologist uncovers long hidden treasures that tell a story about the people living there at that time.  Time had kept their secrets safe for a time, waiting for the right time for their discovery and unveiling.  Then she brings them to light for all to see and to learn the lessons she had buried for so long.

Maybe she has been so slow in the telling of her tales because she has been so busy in the healing of all wounds business.  I like that Time does all these good things, like healing my wounds, improving my vision so that I can see more clearly, providing me with a new perspective, sharing her long kept secrets with me and with the world and revealing truth to anyone who would look for it.  I just wish I didn’t have to wait on her so much.  She moves so slow sometimes.

I guess that’s why I find myself saying, “If I only knew then what I know now.”  I blame Time for that – she has revealed things to me with her passing that I needed to know back then.  At the time, Time was silent and I had to wait on her to pass before she found her voice again and was ready to reveal to me what I had not seen clearly at the time.

I wonder what Time will have to say about the events of our nation these past few months?  We are told over and over again by every form of our media how divided our nation is.  Time may well be remembering another time of division in our nation’s history, a time when it seemed doubtful that our nation would survive and continue to exist as a country.

Lincoln was president during this time of crisis.  He was trying to keep our country, the United States, united and to abolish the abomination of slavery – two seemingly impossible tasks – and Lincoln was faced with them both simultaneously!  These tasks were inextricably linked – if he failed at one, he would fail at the other also.

But Lincoln was determined to succeed in both endeavors – preserving the union and ending slavery. He gave his life, literally, in the pursuit and accomplishment of both these worthy outcomes.  The southern states did not leave the United States permanently (although they had already seceded by the time he took office in March 1861) and his Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves.  But Lincoln was assassinated on April 14th, 1865 by those who opposed all that he had done and all that he stood for.

Lincoln stood for unity and freedom.  (freedom for everyone, not just some)  Those who preferred division and tyranny took his life.  They succeeded in killing Lincoln but the ideals for which he gave his life remain realities today.  We are still the United States of America and we are still working toward that “with liberty and justice for all” ideal that we pledge ourselves to every time we say the pledge to our flag.  (or sing our national anthem)

What does it say about us that in our schools we no longer start the day with the pledge of allegiance to our flag and to our country?  Do we have to experience first hand intrusion, control, tyranny and oppression from those in positions of power before we remember to value the freedoms that we now too often take for granted.

Does time need to teach us a lesson?  Maybe Time could just help us to remember what it was that brought our founding fathers here in the first place.  (hint – I believe they were escaping political and religious persecution.  In other words, they were no longer free to make the decisions for their own lives they felt were theirs to make)

The quest for freedom – that’s what gave birth to this country.  It is what nations around the globe are seeking and striving to attain.  What a tragedy it would be, if through lack of vigilance we let our freedoms slip away.  I don’t know of another place on earth more free to which I could go, were my freedoms taken from me.

Lincoln allowed Time to give him the clear vision that he needed to guide him during his short time as President.  Lincoln was guided by words written almost one hundred years earlier, that must have seemed all but forgotten by the people during the time of the Civil War.  Those words written in 1776 were in part, “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  (Declaration of Independence)

It had taken less than one hundred years for the former freedom seekers to forget these “self evident truths.”  They were not remembering the story Time told of the birth of this nation they now wanted to destroy.  They were not remembering that all people are created equal and given freedom as a birth right.

Had they forgotten that our rights come from our Creator and not from government?  Have we forgotten that same thing today?  If we want government “of the people, by the people, for the people” not to perish from this earth, we need to let Time teach us and learn from the mistakes of history.  It does not have to repeat itself.

What will Time say about our current struggles as a country?  Will she find her voice in time?  Or will she leave it to us, the people, to find and use our voices to speak for unity, freedom, equality and justice for all?  The media isn’t the only voice that should be heard, nor should it be silencing other voices.  Time will tell.  Let’s hope she chimes in soon as in “it’s about time to . . . ”    let freedom ring . . .   let truth prevail  . . .   let justice reign/rain down  . . .

One thing is certain, though.  Time’s Creator has set her boundaries and directs her ways.  Consequently, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:  a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,  . . .   a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”  (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

It could be said that we live in tough times, critical times, uncertain times, prosperous times, dangerous times, confusing times, trying times, exciting times – I guess it all depends on your perspective – nevertheless, Time will tell –  she always does – given enough time.

But this I know.  “He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”  (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

sincerely,       Grace Day