 | The New England Church PulpitNew England Congregational Church UCC |
DEADLINES ARE HOLY LINES | Ecclesiastes 3.1-14 | September 2, 2001 |
It is an interesting word. “Dead” suggests conclusion, finality, completed. “Line” is a gentle but firm reminder that there is a clear, defined yardstick as to whether you make it or not. We all face deadlines. Some people get things done well in advance of the deadline; others find inspiration only when the deadline is breathing down their neck. Curse the deadline all you want, in the final analysis, it is a blessing.
Thank God for deadlines. Without them, we would be awash in an ocean of unknowing parameters, of non-existent boundaries, of a freedom that would eventually be our undoing, like an untethered kite, carried off by the wind, defeating its purpose. Deadlines keep us productive and feeling valued. They offer us challenges that hone our best gifts and the feeling of satisfaction when they are met.
Deadlines anchor us; precisely because they are temporal, they connect us to something Eternal. Garret Keizer delineates four ways in which deadlines serve us well. First, they give us a sense of urgency that motivates us. It may even be a crisis that lights the fire. Time-determined obligations require us to keep moving forward. We are not allowed to wallow in the pit of despair. We are motivated daily to keep going, if only from one deadline to the next. (The Christian Century, May 23-30, 2001)
Second, deadlines compel us to seek help. Years ago, even within my own memory of growing up on the farm, the farming community knew the necessity of working together to meet a deadline. A barn had to be raised in a short span of time and a roof attached before rain or snow came down. The neighbors all gathered to meet the deadline. When crops had to be brought in before an impending storm, the help of comrades helped meet the deadline. A deadline at the office means others can do their job. When your oral report is due at school, it brings the class together to listen and learn.
Third, deadlines force choices. If we had all the time in the world to ponder our choices, some of us would still be in line at Oberweis deciding the flavor of our ice cream. How many times have we said to our kids “Come on, we haven’t got all day.” A deadline saves us from ourselves and our drowning in the sea of our indecisiveness, floating willy-nilly like an unanchored boat at sea.
Our society today tends to treat deadlines as barriers to break and be eliminated if we’re ever to reach our full potential. By trying to eliminate them, we make life more hectic. When we make the deadlines of every day more flexible, more merciful, our lives become merciless. Our work is never done because we’ve moved the definition of ‘done’ to a relative, not absolute, category. We’re always looking to revise, to perfect, to polish, and we become slaves to an obsession of eliminating the deadline. Sabbath rest used to be a deadline that was inviolate. Rest was needed; it was taken. Today we’ve changed the deadlines so that there isn’t even an end to the day, let alone an end to the week.
The fourth virtue of deadlines, says Keizer, is their mercy. They save us from our procrastination, and also from our perfectionism. With more time, we might have done a better job. With more time, we might have accomplished more. Regardless, the time came to do or die and we did and lived. And whatever the results–good, bad, or indifferent–it is finished. We may wish for more time to complete an assignment so we could do a better job, but when it was over, even if we’ve done poorly, the deadline frees us to move on. Without the clock ticking down, we might spend months burning in the hell of perfection, at the expense of family, sleep, and relaxation.
An episode of the old television show The Twilight Zone tells of a man who has recently died. He is welcomed into the afterlife and subsequently enjoys every pleasure: fast cars, women, gambling, a mansion. Every wish is immediately granted. There were no deadlines for living; his time was his own. He eventually tires of this; there is no challenge; he is bored. He goes to the Holy Administrator and asks to be transferred to the ‘other’ place. “Mr,” the Administrator replies, “this is the other place.” Life without parameters is hell.
Death is the final deadline, isn’t it. It is something we spend a lifetime and a fortune evading, even defyin, but it is a deadline we will all face at some time. It is the ultimate deadline that informs everything we do. As such it is God’s way of giving us new life, freeing us from the pain of this one. We can see it as a doorway that slams in our face or as a passage into a new sabbath rest.
Louie Armstrong is supposed to have said, “Never mind creativity, man, just give me a deadline.” The deadline is often the defining moment for creative and vital activity. Often it is our inspiration. Each one is an exercise in motivation, in building community, in forcing choices, and mercy. The Creator says, “Never mind creativity, O Mortal. I’m giving you a lifetime of deadlines. Keep them holy.”
–Gary L. McCann
(With gratitude to Garret Keizer for his stimulating thoughts in his article ‘Deadlines’ printed in the Christian Century, May 23-30, 2001)
| Copyright © 2001 by Gary L. McCann. All rights reserved. |