TIME OUT

“Time out!” How often we hear this command from moms when their children misbehave or may be having a little temper tantrum. Even among playful, innocent children there are times when their tempers turn them from angels into little devils. These two powerful words seem to be a way for the child, and the mom, to cool off before dealing with the issue. (In my day, the advice was to count to ten before taking action or opening your mouth.) Perhaps this counsel comes from an age-old wisdom of letting “cooler heads prevail”…of acting out of an inner calmness…to get at the best solution…to discover the best in oneself and to help bring out the best in the other.

This wisdom is evident even in the games we play...where in many ways the competition mirrors the game of life. It is common in sports, especially in basketball, to call a “time out” in order to regroup the team when play seems to be moving away from the coach’s strategy. There must be something in our human disposition that all too often makes us lose our way from our game plan. This is so even among professionals who have dedicated most of their lives to their livelihood, as we see that each coach is given several “time outs” that can be used during the game. Often the last minute of a game seems to last forever as first one coach then the other calls a “time out”. Perhaps this is so because when it matters most, when the outcome of the game is on the line, it is most essential that the game plan be followed.

We find this wisdom in the Old Testament of the Bible as well. In ancient times, every seventh year there was a year of jubilee in which all debts and grievances were wiped clean, so that Israel should be a land of righteousness and love. The jubilee year was a time to start life anew, to remember the common bonds of being a people of God, and to return to God’s “game plan”. In the New Testament we are asked to put aside debts and offer forgiveness unto seventy times seven.

The wisdom and the command are there for our guidance, though we are hard pressed to obey. To say that it is not easy to put aside wounds caused by another’s brutality or folly is an understatement. Can we really turn our back every seventh year on the violence that causes so much senseless grief, destruction, and despair in our world? Can we really forgive and forget the genocides that have decimated millions of our sisters and brothers? Do we not need a sense of justice and punishment to right the wrongs that have been committed? Would it not be folly to let criminals, terrorists, pedophiles, et al cause untold mayhem and then simply forget in a jubilee year of grace?

Perhaps, if we are to return to God’s dream, we not only can, we must…by beginning with ourselves. In our respective day of remembering God in a special way ~ Sunday Mass, the Jewish Sabbath, the Muslim day of prayer on Friday, etc. ~ God is telling us, “Time out!” so that we may re-connect with God’s (and our) plan, not for anyone else’s sake but for ours (and God’s). We do this on each seventh day by committing ourselves to forgive, and to start again on the path of life we truly desire. Perhaps at Mass we sing, Let me be a channel of your peace...Let it begin with me." Difficult as it may seem, we can begin by remembering God’s gracious generosity and infinite mercy in wiping our slate clean…time and time again. This is how we discover and help build the kingdom.

Perhaps if we became disciplined enough to live our individual lives consistent with our respective faith to truly connect with God, we would find that inner calmness that would pave the way for responding to the global threats…to have cooler heads prevail before returning violence with escalating violence. As the wisdom of a sage of our lifetime, Mohandas Gandhi, tells us: if we are to have world peace, we must first have peace in our hearts.

Wouldn’t it be great if we not only told our kids to take “time out” when needed, but that we ourselves might develop the discipline to do likewise…every seventh day…perhaps even every one-seventh of every seven days…to simply, gently breathe the breath of life and re-connect with the Source of Life…forgive each other…move on with our mutual game plan (God’s and ours)…and bring out the best in one another?