Here I am, idling in the church parking lot, waiting for the car to warm up just a bit before the short drive home.
Alas, you can see how dirty the interior of my car got after a wind gust blew a bunch of dust inside. :: Sneeze ::
I decided to grab this pic because I was thinking about life's idle times. These might be times when we want big things to happen. Idle times are also the in-between times. How we decide to use these times can is critical to our lives of discipleship.
The old saying is said because it is true: Idle hands are the devil's tools. Idle time is often the times of boredom where we might be tempted into something we would otherwise never do.
But idle time can be invaluable time for reflection, prayer, and study.
And as I reflect further, I find myself wondering if there is such a thing. Just as a car at idle is, in fact, at work, so the human person will be doing something while at rest. The question for Christians is straightforward: What are we doing with the idle time we've been given?
Jesus actually said something about some workers who found themselves with lots of idle time:
“'For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.'” (Matt 20:1-16 NRSV)
