amos the churchmouse: amos on time

Religion columnist

amos the churchmouse:

a view from under the pew

Editor’s note: Amos is a churchmouse who types by hurling himself at the keys, but he can’t use the shift keys, and he shuns punctuation marks – except for hyphens and dashes.

amos on time

boss you probably

already know this

but i have a problem

with time - not telling

time but operating

within it

i hardly ever get

anywhere on time boss

my tail either gets

caught in a door somewhere

or i get sidetracked

by a friendly

conversation or

bushwhacked by some

silly interrogation

or waylaid by a

frantic situation or

freaked out by an

act of desperation

or even stymied by

an active imagination

boss it kept getting

worse and worse i was

getting more and more

behind finding myself

later and later in time

fearing one day i would

wake with a shake and

a quake only to find me

back in yesterday

knowing that i needed

some help boss i tried

setting my alarm clock

further and further ahead

but that only succeeded

in my getting further and

further behind plus it nearly

always gave me a feeling of

impending dread

time life and any future

dreams and hopes began

to slow down while i

was frantically running

around in a world i thought

was upside-down

i need help says i as i

went off in search of

my friend dr owlstein the

great wise old owl

he ll help me i know he

will says i to no one

in particular

it wasn t long before i

stumbled up to his tree

help me help me says me

help me stop my insanity

what specific insanity

are we contemplating says

dr owlstein studiously

my obsession for running

amuck in time says me

my passion for massacring

minutes my delight in

demolishing days i can t get

my life together in an

orderly fashion no matter how

hard i try or how fast i run

i m always an hour behind

why do i do that why can t i

get a grip do i need a lot

more zip or should i just let

things slip

no no no the good doctor

said you just need a new

head you need a new look

at time and the way you

behave time can be your

friend or you can be its

slave

redeem the time that s

what the bible says make

good use of the moments

of your life and don t place

unrealistic expectations on

yourself

- don t worry be happy - is

good theology so do that but

in the process remember the

old adage - a good mouse

honors his promises

such as being on time

the wise old bird said

boss i suppose that goes

for deadlines too

so here s to a brighter

more timely future

amos