Time

ROSALIND

By no means, sir: Time travels in divers paces with
divers persons. I'll tell you who Time ambles
withal, who Time trots withal, who Time gallops
withal and who he stands still withal.

ORLANDO

I prithee, who doth he trot withal?

ROSALIND

Marry, he trots hard with a young maid between the
contract of her marriage and the day it is
solemnized: if the interim be but a se'nnight,
Time's pace is so hard that it seems the length of
seven year.

ORLANDO

Who ambles Time withal?

ROSALIND

With a priest that lacks Latin and a rich man that
hath not the gout, for the one sleeps easily because
he cannot study, and the other lives merrily because
he feels no pain, the one lacking the burden of lean
and wasteful learning, the other knowing no burden
of heavy tedious penury; these Time ambles withal.

ORLANDO

Who doth he gallop withal?

ROSALIND

With a thief to the gallows, for though he go as
softly as foot can fall, he thinks himself too soon there.

ORLANDO

Who stays it still withal?

ROSALIND

With lawyers in the vacation, for they sleep between
term and term and then they perceive not how Time moves.

.....

ROSALIND
Well, Time is the old justice that examines all such
offenders, and let Time try: adieu.

______________________________________

Last week, I went to DFW's best burger joint -- The Love Shack -- with a friend of mine and her family (If you have never been there, go and get the Dirty Love Burger. It will change your life.). I had never met her family before, but since she speaks loudly, proudly, and incessantly about everything, it was a pleasure to finally meet the much ballyhooed family. Her father is an Anglo-Catholic (Reformed Episcopal Church) priest and since I come from a conservative, evangelical background, I was curious to find out how this "denomination" was different and/or similar from the Catholic and Protestant traditions.

As I indulged myself in a half brisket, half prime tenderloin burger, topped with a fried quail egg and a tasty "love sauce", as they call it, I became acquainted with a faith that worships like the Catholic tradition but with important doctrinal differences (If you are interested in the details: http://tinyurl.com/26pdzlj). One of the main goals of the REC is to unify the Body of Christ.

When he mentioned this goal, I asked him what it would take to accomplish unification. His answer, in short: Time. He realized that change in the church takes time. He mentioned that the young priests and leaders become discouraged when the unification process fails to occur in the present. But as Rosalind in Shakespeare’s As You Like It, “Time is the old justice that examines all such / offenders, and let Time try.”

For Shakespeare, Time is a transcendent mechanism that tries all of mankind. Furthermore, Time is a tool used by God to accomplish His will. “Time” will bring about the unification of the Church and it is our job, as followers of Christ, to see that the Church is on the path to unity, even if we never see it actually occur.

Why, on this blog about working at a summer camp, am I talking about Time?

I needed a reminder that my desire to change the hearts and minds of students does not happen on my own time. In reality, it happens in God’s Time. My responsibility as a Christian lies in the teaching of truth so that they at least recognize the path of Christ. God, in his Providence, will change their hearts. Even though I feel like the young maid Rosalind mentions when I work with students, I realize Time will continue to run its course in spite of how I feel. In essence, trying to enforce Time's hand promulgates the American ideal of instant gratification. But instant gratification leads to a false transformation veiled in behavior modification. True transformation, tried by Time, changes hearts through Christ which in turn changes behavior.

Thank God for his sovereignty! If my will be done instead of His will, things would get ugly. The world would be one extravagant masquerade.