Sunday was another rainy day in Tennessee. With only indoor options available, I decided to watch television. So, I scanned the tv guide and didn’t see anything that appealed to me. I switched over to Netflix.
Still, I couldn’t find much that really stood out so I opted for the series, “The West Wing,” which I’d seen before. Since it had been six or seven years ago, I decided to watch it again. As soon as it started, I remembered how much I loved the series.
After the first episode was over, I continued on. There was so much that I’d forgotten that it felt like a whole new series. For several hours, I did a little binge-watching. As I sat there, I thought about how I would have loved being able to watch an entire season of my favorite program when I was younger. Imagining that possibility felt as if it was something straight from ‘The Jetsons.’
But, after about the fourth or fifth episode, I began to enjoy the program a little less. I started to feel as if it was beginning to lose it’s flavor–not the show itself, but I noticed that my ability to take it in was beginning to wane.
I started wondering if it was too much for me to see, all at once and fully appreciate. Perhaps it messed with my circadian rhythms. Maybe it was like jet lag… I know that seems far-fetched, but bare with me. When I think about flying to California where I actually ‘gain’ two hours, I know that that is never true. Even though it is only a two hour time change, it takes me a couple of days to start feeling like I am on the current time. I feel out of sync.
Our bodies cannot be fooled. Our Circadian rhythms from the Latin, ‘circa (about) and dien, (day), count time. Each day has a rhythm to it. Events in our life, occur in a season.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 confirms this fact then when it says, “There is an appointed time for everything and a time for every affair under the heavens.”
In twelve-step programs, we emphasize keeping our focus on today. Our slogan, ‘One day at a time,’ reminds us to stay out of the past and not to worry about the future. If we keep our focus on either the past or the future, we will lose what is right in front of us –today.
I thought about the challenges of living in a family that suffers with addictions. Loved ones have trouble letting go of the problems of the past. They will often project what happened in the past onto the future. Perhaps this causes our own version of jet lag. Maybe it monkeys with our circadian rhythms leaving us feeling confused and out of sorts.
As I was thinking about all of these things I wondered how it was all connected. Surely God brought these ideas into my mind for a reason. What did he want me to take away from this message?
So, I picked up a daily reader and made a list of all of the page numbers of readings that were on the slogan, ‘One day at a time’ and I started reading. I looked for common themes to try to learn what I’d missed after all these years with regard to time.
Over and over I was reminded that my twelve-step program is a twenty-four hour program. I noticed that many of these readings had to do with protecting ourselves from hurts that might occur in our future. Then I thought Holy Moly, am I under the impression that I can speed up time during the dark days to avoid these uncomfortable feelings? Accepting powerlessness is a never ending problem…
But the most prominent theme of all was that especially in times of trouble, we need that time to think. We need time to process what is happening to us and to our loved ones. We need time to sort out what belongs to us and what belongs to God.
We need this season that we are in to learn and grow. Perhaps we need to find God here and see that He will be with us in a new day.
Just before I sat down to write this post, I watched one more episode of the ‘West Wing.’ It was one of the best, by far. There had been a traumatic event happen. One of the characters was suffering from PTSD. His friends arranged for him to see a therapist. When he came out of that first session, his friend who was a recovering alcoholic and addict was waiting for him.
He was surprised that his friend had waited around for him. He was even more surprised that he realized that he was in trouble and so he asked him how he knew. His friend replied:
“A guy fell into a hole. A doctor walked by, saw him in the hole, wrote a prescription and dropped it in the hole and walked away. Next a priest walked by. He wrote a prayer and dropped it into the hole and walked away. His friend walked by, saw him there and jumped down into the hole with him.
“What did you do that for? Now we’re both stuck down here in this hole.” His friend replied, “Yeah, but I’ve been down here before and I know how to get out.”
Friends, I’ve tried time traveling many times. It leaves me so rattled and confused. If you’d like to get out of this rut, be present in your day. Start asking questions. Ask God what he needs for you to see and hear and understand about your life in this moment.
He is so generous. I promise that He will be near and help you find your way. Sit in this season with me and take it in. Learn to live and enjoy your life, one day at a time.