We Need More Time:
A Meditation for Leap Year

A sermon prepared by Rev. Tim Kutzmark
Sunday, March 3, 2008 • Unitarian Universalist Church of Reading

In a week that saw renewed violence in the Middle East

In a week in which a new study was released that said 1 in every 100 persons in this country are incarcerated, and 1 in 9 black men in this country are incarcerated

In a week where impulses for independence were questioned

In a week where race and gender and competence and experience were on trial

In a week in which we each faced our own life challenges

(In a week in which the snow just didn’t want to stop)

It is good to remember these words by the late William Sloane Coffin:

“The world is too dangerous for anything but truth
and too small for anything but love.”

Let us join together in prayer and mindfulness:

Spirit of Life, Grace-giving God of our own understanding,
Impulse within us that yearns for wholeness, peace, and rest

In our busy lives,
filled with deadlines, appointments, schedules,
trips, errands, responsibilities,
classes, homework, lessons, rehearsals,
practice, meals to prepare, books to read,
people to see,
people to avoid…

In our hurried lives, we often say: “If only I had more time.”

“If only I had more time.”  “I need more time.”
Time, time.

Well, Spirit of Life, this past week, the calendar gave us extra time,
An extra day,
For this was leap year, 
And we were given the gift of more time,
An entire 24 hours more than usual.

What did we do with this extra day of life,
Those precious additional hours,
Those 1440 extra minutes filled with breath and possibility?

Did having “more time” make any difference?

Did we use that extra time to hug loved ones closer?
Did we whisper “I love you” into the ear of our beloved?
Did we use that extra time to call a friend
we haven’t spoken to in months?
Did we use that time to forgive an ancient hurt?
(or say “I’m sorry”)

Did we walk outside under the cold, snowy,
open, endless sky?
Sit quietly, gently, and remember our blessings
(there is at least one or two)
Weep fully over a fear or loss
Read the book that has been gathering dust on the bookshelf
See the film that won the Oscar
Get to the gym
Get out of the gym
Adopt a pet
Say a prayer
Sit in meditation
Listen for that still, small voice within
Go for a run
Help a friend
Eat pizza
Eat another piece of pizza
(not feel guilty for that second piece of pizza)
Reach out to someone in need
Care for a stranger
Care, in some way,
for something beyond our immediate world
Mend a tear in the fabric of life?

How did we use our extra time this week?

How do we use our time?
Time that is moving quickly,
So quickly forward?
So quickly towards our inevitable end?

Spirit of Life, this past week, you gave us extra time,
An extra day,
For this was leap year,
An entire 24 hours more than usual.

Those hours are already gone…..faded, past.

But now, in this moment, you give us time anew…
Right now,
Today, you give us time,
Another day.
An entire 24 hours waits for us and our choices…

What will we do with this new day of life,
These precious hours,
These 1440 minutes of breath and possibility