a time to talk

When a friend calls to me from the road

And slows his horse to a meaning walk,

I don’t stand still and look around

On all the hills I haven’t hoed,

And shout from where I am, What is it?

No, not as there is a time to talk.

I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground,

Blade-end up and five feet tall,

And plod: I go up to the stone wall

For a friendly visit.

A Time to Talk, Robert Frost

I have decided that I want to be available to Jesus and available to others.  To be present to Jesus and present to people.  This is harder than it seems.  I find my days are filled with details, meetings, endless google forms, overfilled email inboxes. If Jesus or anyone else desired to spend some time with me or need to talk, I’d probably have to get my calendar out and reschedule them for another day. 

I have resolved more and more to put Jesus above my agenda, to put people over my schedule, or whatever task I am doing.  To have “time to talk” is what I want.  More than that, I want to be in a place where I can notice opportunities for divine moments with others. To be watchful; to be available.  Woody Allen said, “Showing up is 90% of the battle.”  There’s more than a shred of truth in that sentence. 

Jesus showed up and lived among us.
I want to be able to show up in the lives of others and live among them.