Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent
We can never ransom ourselves,
or deliver to God the price of our life.
Psalm 49:6
I look at the clock and am startled. How did it get to be so late? It is dark outside, so I should have known. Then again, is gets dark so early now.
I take a deep breath and begin to transition away from the work in front of me. Tidying up. Making a neat pile of what needs to be attended to tomorrow. Checking off things from my lists (one paper, one digital) and making quick notes of tasks I don’t want to forget.
Then I see the time on my phone, and I look at the clock again. Which was never changed when daylight savings ended. Which makes it an hour ahead. Which means it is not so late after all.
I have already set my work aside. Yet, the tasks tempt me with the thought of how much I can accomplish in an hour and how righteous that will make me. Except I know better. And I am grateful that I have learned that rest and play and contemplation are much better for my soul than doing “just one more thing.”
It is not late. It is the right time. To remember that my life belongs to God. To walk one day closer to the birth of salvation.
