What's Thirty Minutes?

 

People round me are still discussing their experiences of flu and covid jabs. Venues seem to fall into two categories- the in-and-out  ones, and the standing-in-a-queue-for-ages places. A member of one such conversation stated she was in&out, but she couldn't see why other people were unhappy with queuing.
"What is thirty minutes out of someone's life. It means nothing!" she declared. I mumbled it was tough if you were 90 and struggling to stand for all that time. 
I have thought a lot about the remark since. There was a woman ahead of me in the queue who had brought her husband for his jab. He had severe Alzheimer's, they'd travelled in on the bus from their village for his timed appointment. The delay meant he was getting agitated, they'd probably missed the bus back and would have a further hour to wait. 
In other situations a 30 minutes delay can be really significant - a delayed train may mean you miss your connection for the rest of your journey. A 30 minute traffic jam can make you late for an important appointment.

30 minutes in someone's life can be very special - the time you sit with a child reading a storybook, or snuggled on the sofa watching an episode of their special tv programme. Half an hour travelling in the car, or walking home with a family member, having time to talk properly without other distractions.

Thirty minutes spent writing/reading a letter, having a long phone conversation, or chatting on WhatsApp, can help make loved ones feel closer, more in touch. Half an hour spent writing a blogpost, preparing a meal, planting out seedlings,darning a sock, knitting baby bootees, creating a greetings card - these are all practical half hour tasks which give me joy, and I hope will bless others.

Half an hour by someone's bedside, in the hospital or Hospice, - giving them your full attention, listening to what they need to say, and responding to them. For someone who is unwell, or one who knows their time is limited, those thirty minutes are truly precious, those conversations matter.

For anxious Mums and Dads, that time slot at the parents' evening can help clear up problems, improve communication with the school, and benefit the children.

So please don't tell me thirty minutes out of someone's life is nothing and doesn't matter. More to the point, it is not my place to decide what matters for someone else. And it is not my place to waste someone else's precious time, if I can possibly help it.  We each have a responsibility to live wisely and well. And to consider the impact of our actions on others. Time is not there to be wasted
I am not saying that Kipling was right in urging men to "fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run"  - it is appropriate to walk sometimes, to stop and appreciate the beauty around us, to notice the needs of others, just to find rest for our souls, simply to be.
The Psalmist says "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain wisdom" [Psalm 90v12] and I am inclined to agree