Riddle Time

Embracing God’s wisdom and timing  

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11  

There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every thing under the heavens. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them; a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away. A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to be silent, and a time to speak. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

          One of the most memorable scenes in the book, The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, is the showdown between Bilbo and Gollum to see who would win the “ring of power.” They resolve their argument with a battle of riddles. Both are masters of saying riddles and solving riddles. Gollum’s last riddle, however, stumps poor Bilbo; see if you can solve it. It goes like this: “This thing all things devours: Birds, beasts, trees, flowers; Gnaws iron, bites steel; Grinds hard stone to meal; Slays kings, ruins town; And beats high mountain down.” Do you know the answer? Do you need more “time”? Well, that’s what Bilbo said. He shouted, “Time! I need more time!” And quite by accident, he accurately answered the riddle: it is “time” that does all these devastating things, like “devours all things,” “slays kings,” and “beats high mountain down.”  In other words, time is not to be taken lightly.  

          In the first reading today, the book of Ecclesiastes also tackles the riddle of time, but offers a very different solution, namely, time is entirely in God’s hands and under his control. He writes: “There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every thing under the heavens.” He goes on to elaborate: “A time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot the plant” and so on. That is, even though Gollum may see time as this devastating destroyer, God looks at time more like a “pet” that sits silently in his lap and obeys his every command. You see, time, too, is part of God’s creation – like heaven and hell, life and death, birds, beasts, trees and flowers – and so time also reflects his logic and love. Yes, time “beats high mountain down,” but not unless and until God tells it to.  

          My friends, have you resolved the riddle of time for yourself? Most of us are not very happy with time, are we? We want more of it or we want less of it; we want it to go faster or we want it to slow down. Children want the weeks before Christmas to fly by so they can get to the gifts, just like Catholics want sermons at Sunday Mass to speedy by so they can get to breakfast! We want less time. On the other hand, we want time to slow down or stop. Remember that love song by the country music band, Diamond Rio, called “One More Day”? They sang: “One more day, one more time, one more sunset, maybe I’d be satisfied, But then again, I know what it would do, Leave me wishing still for one more day with you.” Hasn’t anyone who has stood at the bedside of a loved one who was dying wished for more time? We shout with Bilbo, “Time! I need more time!”

          Instead of struggling for more time or less time, may I suggest you see time as God’s little pet, that plays and prances at his command? When we embrace the time God has given us – however short or however long – we embrace his wisdom and begin to sense “the timeless he has placed in our hearts,” that is, eternity. Yes, time “can slay kings” but it is also God’s little pet, and if you have enough faith, time can become your little pet, too.  

          Praised be Jesus Christ!