Pastor's Note

TAKING TIME
December 30th, 2007

I was reading about a basketball player who, like Michael Jordan, could almost defy gravity, and stay in the air for an extraordinary time when he would go up for a shot. The author used the term ‘hang time.’ Great basketball players have found ways to maximize hang time and stay aloft longer than expected.
As I think about healthy families, I find that they generally have mastered the art of ‘hang-out time.’ No, they don’t fly through the air like basketball players. But what they do is just as important. They have learned the art of passing time together, spending time on light, fun, and even frivolous activities.
One dad even said that with all the emphasis on quality time, they have chosen to make sure there is quantity time. Playing board games, taking walks in the forest together, going to movies or stopping for ice cream – these are often the activities of childhood that people remember after they are grown.
Of course, to even have the quantity of time to hang out together, families will likely have to restrict how much the kids do in organized outside-the-house activities. There is nothing wrong with dance and piano lessons or basketball and swim teams. But to do it all becomes something that takes away from home life. How many parents have bemoaned that fact that their families rarely sit down to dinner together!
What happens during hang-out time is family members learn to be themselves with others. With quality time, large issues are discussed with some seriousness. Quantity time allows little things to be talked about. Quality time requires some organization and attention. Quantity time can be delightfully disorganized. Attention is paid, but in a more relaxed way.
No family is perfect, but when families share time just for being and enjoying each other’s company, then there is a better chance for all members of that family to care about each other. Such caring helps each member deal with other aspects of life.
Enjoy the Feast of the Holy Family.