i'm busy

a few weeks ago someone asked me whether i had any prayer requests. i thought for a moment and settled on the impossible. "i need more time," i said, "perhaps an extra hour every day, or an extra day of the week."

i wanted a miracle.

another friend demanded that i write more on my novella. "but i don't have time!" i replied.

i happened to have some highlighters handy, so i sketched him a seven-day calendar and then started filling in the squares. by the time i finished, there were about six hours free. so where does all my time go?

1. 40 hours a week at my old full-time job editing psychiatric stuff.
2. 8-25 hours a week managing the imagination section of the other journal.
3. 3-7 hours a week taking editing courses at the UW.

and then this sunday pastor richard encouraged the congregation at bethany to examine how we spend our time. he warned that a bulging calendar is sometimes the harbinger of an unpleasant paradox, sometimes we cram our lives with stuff in order to avoid a clash with meaning, truth, and emptiness.

well, i'd love to take some time to consider this, but i have an essay on capitalism to edit.


photograph: andrew david. "revelations." mount st. helensish, wa.