Time for people...

This morning I had to do some office work and rush out to get an X-ray of my knee. Then I rushed down the street to the brewery to catch up on the guys there. Having raced around there talking briefly with a number of them, I walked/ran back to the church and spent time talking to a man from the lotteries grants people because we had applied for some funding from them. While I was chatting to him some friends from the Church came into Space2b and began to tell me about the tough time they had been having with his hospitalised mother. I could not hang around and listen, there was a new immigrants orientation tour beginning there and I had to set up the power points and control them and speak. That lasted over an hour, after packing up I ran down the road to my Allied Press chaplaincy, coming back to my office later in the afternoon to do some choosing of songs and planning for Sunday until picking my wife up at 6 p.m. I came home and had dinner, watched the News on TV then started writing and sending emails. As I sat and thought about the day I realised that I had short changed my friends at lunchtime. They had stuff to get off their chest and I was not able to be there for them. I am aware too that because of my busyness there are other folk I have not "been there" for. I am coming to the conclusion that I have to step back and build more flexible time into my schedule so that I can have true "people time".

I will always remember one of the earlier nights in the drop-in centre. We had far fewer people coming each Friday night then than we do now, but it did seem busy. We had a guy by the name of Geoff coming, he was quite "straight from the shoulder" and blunt in his manner. He was trying to talk with me but I was "running the drop-in centre" by doing the dishes. As I was walking past with a tea towel in my hand and some dirty cups to wash he was trying to tell me something. I never heard his comment. In exasperation he raised his voice and said, "Brown! Would you put that bloody tea towel down, come and sit down here beside me and talk with me!" I realised I was "running the drop-in" but denying the essence of the drop-in principle by not giving myself to people.

There are statistics, and time sheets, and paper work, and programs and church services... I hope that I, and others above me, never forget that it really is the time with people that makes a difference.

I rang the friends I had neglected up tonight and he and I talked for nearly an hour. It was good for him and good for me. I need to remember that time for people is important!