Deadlines

It was inevitable. I had to take several weeks off from writing my Grace Notes to take care of business. With only twenty four hours each day and sixteen of them being spent at work, there was little time for creative journaling. But I am anxious to be back, with the hope that my words will uplift and encourage both reader and writer.

This may surprise you...not the fact that I have an obsolete 1970 edition of a Merriam-Webster Dictionary, but of what I found as a definition. I looked up the word "deadline". Number One definition was: "A line drawn within or around a prison that a prisoner passes at the risk of being shot." Am I the only person that didn't know that? It makes sense, however. A line...you cross...you're dead. Not that the IRS would go to such extreme measures, but I felt missing the April 15th deadline was equally life threatening. So I put all my time and energy into the days leading up to the final day.

This may also surprise you. The IRS is somewhat merciful. If a taxpayer knows they cannot complete their return by April 15th, an extension for filing (not in paying, they still want their money)is granted. That's very thoughtful of them. I have two boxes of taxpayer files waiting for October 15th. But being human, they will probably sit there until October 13th, at which time there will be another scramble to meet the deadline.

Consider some of these other routine deadlines and extensions we face everyday.

Deadline: 4:45 a.m. wake up time
Extension: Snooze button
Deadline: "Be ye therefore perfect"
Extension: Repentance and forgiveness
Deadline: Lose 15 pounds by the end of the year
Extension: New Year's resolution
Deadline: Last Micheal Bolton song on my favorite CD
Extension: Auto replay
Deadline: Crossing off the "to do" list
Extension: New sunrise
Deadline: Starting time for Sacrament Meeting
Extension: Mormon Standard Time
Deadline: Mortality
Extension: Resurrection
Deadline: Complete and turn in a homework assignment
Extension: No, there is no extension. You accept the consequence of a failing grade

Let's face the facts of human existence. We are driven and ruled by the calendar and the clock. We need to be at the workplace by 8:00 a.m. Soccer practice begins at 6:30 p.m. Piano lessons last one half hour. Children need to be in bed by 9:00 p.m. The Jazz have 6.9 seconds to score two more points to win the game. The birthday cake is baked for 35 minutes. Home and visiting teaching must be completed by the 31st. The wonderful sale at Kohl's only lasts until May 15th. If we miss the deadline for inhaling good, semi-clean oxygen...well, that's a deadline you don't want to miss.

So, is there a moral to this Grace Notes today? Probably not. I just needed to explain my absence. But I am reminded of a scripture I used in Sharing Time last week. It is found in Alma 34:32. "For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors." Subsequent verses counsel to not procrastinate our repentance, because this life is our training for eternity. Perhaps, I have already shared this memory with you. I am reminded of an old Twilight Zone episode. A man has a pocket watch that stops time for everyone but the holder of the watch. In the beginning, it is great fun to push the button, and time and people stand still. He can rob a bank; eat a delicious meal without paying; play pranks on the statuesque-like neighbor, etc. With another push of the button, time resumes and life goes on. However, at the climax of the episode, while in limbo mode, the man drops the watch. It shatters and is irreparable. He wanders through the world...alone...forever...without TIME.

I am grateful for deadlines. We need them to motivate, direct and urge us on to do and to be. They serve the purpose of dividing up our minutes and hours into manageable segments of progress. Oops, got to go now. My deadline for writing is up and I have to get my hair dried. If I miss that deadline, I frizz!!!!!