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Chasing Time 

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a
day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand
slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to
perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” —2 Peter 3: 8-9

We’ve been told time is constant, but time won’t comply.
Days seem long, years seem short, while each life rushes by.
Any moment with worry proves time doesn’t fly
and then time disappears in the blink of an eye.

Time will not be controlled though we act like it can
as we analyze, worry, rehash and then plan
which would cause time to chuckle if it were a man
with each plan doomed to fail well before it began.

But for God, many years is the same as one day.
Time moves backwards and forwards in just the same way.
He is now, is tomorrow and is yesterday.
It’s no wonder we can’t keep time sorted away.

When we’re yoked up to God, it’s at His pace we’ll go
but be warned that His pace will quite often seem slow.
When we stop chasing time, and just go with His flow,
all our worries will shrink, and contentment will grow.

.

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Filthy Rags

My thoughts and deeds are just like rags
__in terrible condition.
At one point, keeping rags away
__from filth was my ambition.
I failed so then I put them in
__the washer and the dryer.
When nothing cleansed my filthy rags,
__they kept on piling higher.

To free myself, I filled my truck
__with armful after armful.
I drove it to the landfill but
__was told my rags were harmful.
I learned that it would cost my soul
__to pay for their disposal.
That’s when I read the Word and I
__first learned of God’s proposal.

The deal that He has offered seems
__decidedly one-sided.
His offer viewed commercially
__would rightly be derided.
God sent his Son whose sacrifice
__removes our condemnation.
Now we can trade our filthy rags
__for garments of salvation.

.

.

Warren Bonham is a private equity investor who lives in Southlake, Texas.

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The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary.


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7 Responses

  1. James Sale

    Thought provoking, Warren, on the topic of time: difficult to contemplate/conceptualise that time/Time was part of the Creation too. So to talk about ‘before’ time is to use time language to allude to that which was not bound or referenced by time in any way. Going with the flow is great advice if our vision is clear and our moral compass is right! Thanks.

    Reply
  2. LTC Roy E. Peterson

    I have always remembered our time is not God’s time. Your spiritual discourse is well-conceived and timely. I was particularly attracted to the “Filthy Rags” that so well describes lives, living, and the cleansing of salvation.

    Reply
  3. Rohini

    I thoroughly enjoyed both poems. There’s a lilt to the rhythm that belies the serious thoughts contemplated. Excellent reading and pondering on.

    Reply
  4. Brian A. Yapko

    I enjoyed both of these poems very much, Warren. The subject of Time is one which always intrigues me. Physicists are often asked what occurred before The Big Bang and the answer is difficult to fathom — time did not exist before so there is no way to formulate an answer. But isn’t it remarkable that theology leads us to the exact same result? God exists out of Time because Time itself is His creation. How do we temporal beings wrap our minds around that?

    Reply
  5. Margaret Coats

    Warren, I very much like the line accented,

    “When we’re YOKED up to GOD, it’s at HIS pace we’ll GO.”

    This is where you very lightly include the important content of your epigraph, indicating that repentance is necessary in order not to perish. And that repentance, not the death of the sinner, is what God wants. It is why He waits and seems not to act for what may seem a long time.

    Being yoked involves much more than reading the Word, as in “Filthy Rags.” The reader has to accept God’s deal for those rags and make the trade as specified by God. This idea, not the concept of God’s time, is the difficulty you deal with in both poems. Sinners have always wanted easy salvation on THEIR terms and at THEIR time. You write lightly enough to catch their attention and demonstrate their necessity to start moving at God’s pace.

    Reply
  6. Gigi Ryan

    Dear Warren,
    I love these poems. Filthy Rags shows the futility of trying to clean our own garments, and offers the glorious hope of the Gospel.
    Thank you.
    Gigi

    Reply
  7. Yael

    Both your poems are a joy to read on a lovely and warm summer Sabbath evening. Thank you very much for sharing, God bless you.

    Reply

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