| STEWARDSHIP—LIVING CHRISTIANITY
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New World Articles
11-23-03 Anne Marie Tirpak
A ‘simple’ thought
By AnneMarie Tirpak
Surfing the radio the other day I heard Cher’s “Turn
Back Time”… and kept right on going. I thought how we
pine for the past and looking to the future while not living fully
in the present. Maybe this was all too much heavy thinking for an
afternoon commute home, but it was Oct. 24—Take Back Your
Time Day.
Take Back Your Time Day is an initiative of The Simplicity Forum
at Cornell University’s Center for Religion, Ethics and Social
Policy, “promoting and honoring simple, just, and sustainable
ways of life.” This sounds a lot like being “stewards
of creation” as advocated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops in their pastoral, “Stewardship: A Disciple’s
Response.”
Take Back Your Time Day purposefully falls nine weeks before the
end of the year—symbolic of the weeks each year Americans
work that Western Europeans don’t. The challenge, however,
is beyond work; it is dedicated to living a balanced life—not
a bad reflection for every day.
Americans are busy. We produce and consume more, often at the cost
of what is more essential: We work long hours and spend less time
with those significant in our lives. The Simplicity Forum argues
that our use of time needs to be reprioritized—for the benefit
of families, communities, personal health, the environment and active
citizenship. Our bishops advocate the same and remind us of our
responsibility to be stewards of creation, vocation and the church.
So, what are our priorities—or at least what appear to be
our priorities by the amount of time we spend doing them? According
to the journal American Demographics, each week Americans spend
12 hours watching TV, six socializing and eating out, four on movies
and reading, five shopping, three on hobbies, two on exercise and
just one on volunteering and religious activities.
The late Archbishop Thomas Murphy, a Chicago native and force behind
the bishops’ stewardship pastoral, asked the hard question,
“What do I ‘own’ and what ‘owns’ me?”
How does our use of time reflect what “owns” us? Instead
of “Turning Back Time” as proffered by Cher, how can
we take back our time—today, and everyday—so that it
reflects what is most essential?
Tirpak is archdiocesan vicariate stewardship coordinator. She can
be reached at (312) 534-7713 or by e-mail at atirpak@archchicago.org.
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