There is a time for everything…

Lucky James Evbouan

“Time is a great

teacher, but

unfortunately it kills all

its pupils” -Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869) French composer

What is time?

“Time, the subtle thief of youth”. - John Milton

“What is time? The Swiss manufacture it. Italians want it. The Americans say it is money. Hindus say it does not exist. I say time is a crook”.

- Peter Lorre (1904 - 1964) Hungarian-born U.S. film actor

The perfect life…

We all desire an idyllic

life of carefree happiness, unspoiled beauty, and serenity.

But it is found only in happily-ever-after books.

Too many things to do

in too little a time and too

short a life.

Time never fails to spoil the show.

Time too short, the journey too long…

An excerpt from a true story:

Goodyear. Rockefeller.

Pulitzer. Vanderbilt. Morgan.

Macy. Gould. Crane. Astor.

These celebrated millionaires

represented only the most

visible names from the

membership rolls of the

powerful Jekyll Island Club.

In 1886

some of the East Coast’s most prominent

millionaires purchased a coastal island

near Georgia for a hunting preserve and

winter family retreat. By the early 1900s,

members had informally linked together

to form one of the most powerful,

wealthy, and influential earthly kingdoms

ever known.

Members of the

exclusive, clannish Jekyll Island

Club controlled one-sixth of the

world’s wealth, controlled America’s

corporations and government- the

railroads, the banks, the industrial

complex, the significant inventions.

To understand how vast

this power was, consider these examples:

In the early 1900s, J. P. Morgan twice financed the teetering US government, staving off federal bankruptcy.

On another occasion, at a clandestine meeting in one of the elegant private meeting rooms at the Jekyll Island Clubhouse, top government officials hammered out the first draft of the

Federal Reserve Act.

Today,

the Jekyll Island Club is history.

Curious visitors wander among a

half-dozen restored building scattered

around the grounds. The overgrowth of

weeds, the peeling paint, the shattered

glass - all symbols of the futility of

man-made kingdoms.

Except

those restored for tourists’

viewing, the posh winter “cottages”

lay in ruins, betraying the brief

standing given to the temporal

kingdoms of man.

Source: “The Man in the Mirror” by Patrick Morley

We all have one little something

that engages us so much that we would give little or no attention to anything else.

For me, it’s a good novel.

As a result of our preoccupations, many other things in our lives are neglected.

The glamour of today…

Our preoccupations today lose their glamour tomorrow.

Add some value today…

Attempt something new.

Revisit what you have shelved.

Prioritize.

Add in family.

And friends too.

Put your life in perspective

There is a time for everything

Ecclesiastes 3

There is a time for

everything, 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 harvest

a time

to cry and a time to laugh

a time

to grieve and a time to dance

a time

to search and a time to lose

a time

to be quiet and a time to speak up

Don’t kill time. Use it.

“We kill time; time buries us”

- Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (1839 - 1908)

Brazilian novelist and short-story writer.

Make a difference

• in somebody’s life

• in your community

• with your resources

• with your time

Do you ask

with Milan Kundera, a Czech writer:

“what can life be worth if

the only rehearsal for life

is life itself?”

Indeed

But here we are anyway…

If only life could be lived rehearsed

We’ll know what twists to live reversed

What turns to avoid, ties to be severed

Regardless, there is a time

to live and a time to give

account of our life

Is Life really worth nothing?

Life could be worth something of value if we’d

make it.

Live well therefore.

Be Audacious. Hope.

Find the inestimable worth of this GIFT of LIFE!

Your influence today could

• have a lasting, perhaps a timeless, impact on humanity

• wipe a tear now, or someday soon

• set the course of human history in a more purposeful path

Look to God…

• Help will be found

• Priorities will be meaningful

• Peace, joy will be restored

• Life will be worth a lot more…

Perhaps

the time to

look is

NOW!