Attention to Details and Deadlines

My husband has owned a Palm II, a Palm V, a Visor, and a REX. If you don’t know what those are, it simply means they are so outdated that nobody remembers them anymore. They have been replaced by a new generation of organizational gadgets and software. My husband is part of a large purchasing group that simply has to have the latest technology to assist in sorting, organizing, storing, reminding, and coordinating every contact number, address, and event.

All that organization means that we can pack more information and events into our already over-burdened lives.

Most of us feel tired and overwhelmed most of the time. There’s simply too much to do – even though our tech toys indicate that they have memory space available. We often feel like the man in the Robert Frost poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” There’s miles to go before I sleep, miles to go before I sleep.

Still, with all of our planning and running, the most important things are often overlooked.

She’s as busy as I am. I’ll talk to her next week and see how she’s doing. The divorce hit her pretty hard.

I’ll get to that retreat next year. It’s offered all the time. Now’s not good for me.

I’m not sure he’s ready yet for an invitation to RCIA. Maybe next year. Yeah, I’ll give it another year and see if he’s still asking questions about the Catholic faith.

There is a deadline coming, and the unique thing about this deadline is that we do not know the day or the hour in which it will arrive. The event isn’t on my calendar. And it’s not on yours either.

The Lord will simply show up that day and say, Okay, I’ve given you enough time to complete your work. Whether it is when God calls me into eternity or when Our Lord returns again, it doesn’t really make a difference. This life has an expiration date. And then, we won’t have time to make time, because time will be no more.

If there is something you need to do, something you need to say, and someone it needs to be said to, do it today. Right now. Not tonight. Not even ten minutes from now.

Our planners may be programmed to keep on sorting and reminding and organizing. You might be able to set up appointments for a date that’s half a century from today just by clicking a button on your computer screen. But you don’t have a guarantee that you’ll be here to carry out the action item. You don’t have a guarantee that your friend, or your brother, or your mother will be here to receive the email or text message or phone call.

Now is an acceptable time.

Go on. You know you have an action item that requires your attention. Take care of it right now.

Attention to Details and Deadlines