Daily Reflections-88, January 19, 2015 Fr. Jose Panthaplamthottiyil CMI Take Time by the Forelock Oliver Barrett IV was the only son of a multimillionaire. Jennifer Cavilleri was the only daughter of a poor retired baker. They met and fell in love with each other. He brought her home for his parents’ approval. His mother was sympathetic. But his father couldn’t imagine his only son getting married to a pauper’s daughter. And he said that looking at his son’s face. He even threatened him with not giving his inheritance. Oliver did not care. He married Jennifer against his father’s disapproval and moved into a moderate apartment in a middle-class neighborhood in Boston. They both worked and they were happy together. However, their happiness didn’t last long. By the time she was 25, she was diagnosed with deadly cancer. To make her happy, Oliver bought two tickets for a trip to Paris where she always wanted to visit. But her mind was not on Paris anymore. “I don’t want Paris,” she said. “I don’t need Paris. I just want you.” “That you’ve got, baby!” he interrupted. “And I want time,” she continued, “which you can’t give me.” Oliver couldn’t say a word. He just hugged her tightly for a long long time. No, Jennifer didn’t get much time as she wished. She soon succumbed to cancer leaving Oliver in tears. This is how American writer Erich Segal’s beautiful novel, Love Story, ends. When we are young and healthy, we seldom pause to reflect on the importance of time in our lives. And very often we waste our time doing useless things. Like Jennifer, only when we see death face to face we realize how precious our time is and how badly we need more of it to straighten out our lives. But then it would be too late and nobody, except God, can do anything about it. That is why we need to look at our time as a precious gift from God and use every moment of it as if it were a rare commodity. Lysippus was an ancient Greek sculptor who chiseled out a man’s statue with unusual features. This statue had two wings and a lock of hair on the forehead. The back of the head of this statue was completely bald. Underneath this statue, the following questions and answers were given in Greek letters: “Who made you?” “Lysippus made me.” “What is your name? “Opportunity is my name.” “Why do you have wings?” “That I may fly swiftly over the earth.” “Why do you have a forelock?” “That men may seize me as I come.” “Why are you bald in the back of your head?” “Because, when I am gone, none can lay hold of me.” When an opportunity is gone, nobody can catch hold of it. This is also true with time. Yes, we need to take time by the forelock and use it for our good. Because, as it has been rightly said, time and tide waits for none.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 10:19:44 +0000
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