SHORT TIMERS ...the Wayfarer 3/4/17

SHORT TIMERS
3/4/17

Job 14

King James Version (KJV)

14 Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.

² He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

Something that is perhaps most easily understood by those who have worn the uniform in the past is something called a "short timer's calendar".

It is a counting of the days that remain for an individual until a particular assignment is completed, or until the term of his service itself is completed.

Although I am not sure of the origin of this particular calendar, I was first made aware of it by "short timers" waiting out their last few days on assignment, almost immediately upon my entry into basic training as one of my Drill sergeants was one of those short timers taking delight in completing an assignment he had not asked for nor ever desired when drafted into service.

There were two distinct attitudes taken by the short timers that I saw throughout the years, and I am certain that both of those attitudes remain prevalent today for any and all who fall into this unique category, sometimes coveted, and at other times despised by the Short Timer himself.

The first attitude is the one I saw as a young enlistee. Do as little as possible, give as little as is mandatory, wait out the time with as little patience and effort as possible, take no chances of adding any time to that calendar, never rock the boat, just wait until it drifts eventually to its destination.

The second attitude I saw, prevalent in a very few, that impressed and inspired me, was the exact opposite attitude taken, demanding that as much as was humanly possible be given and accomplished prior to departure in order to assure the continuity, effectiveness, and ability to accomplish the mission at hand being left to those who remained.

 As the opening verses of scripture point out, each and every one of us is a "Short Timer"!

This well known scripture  continues on:

Job 14

King James Version (KJV)

14 Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.

² He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

³ And doth thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?

⁴ Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.

⁵ Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;

⁶ Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.

⁷ For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.

⁸ Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;

⁹ Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.

¹⁰ But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?

¹¹ As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:

¹² So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.

¹³ O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!

¹⁴ If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

¹⁵ Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.

¹⁶ For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?

¹⁷ My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity.

¹⁸ And surely the mountains falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place.

¹⁹ The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man.

²⁰ Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.

²¹ His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.

²² But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.

Job, conveyed quite well the utter futility  that is felt by all from time to time when the realization of the absolute fact that death must come for all that live, and no matter how long a life is, at its end it is infinitely short to the one having lived it.

David conveyed an entirely different "Short Timer's attitude" as he wrote within the words of yet another well known scripture:

Psalm 23

King James Version (KJV)

23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

² He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

³ He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

⁵ Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

David, like Job, recognized the mortality of the human body, but chose to laud and praise the immortality of the soul with this and many other psalms.

He chose to look to the time when he would no longer BE a "short timer" but would, instead, find his time accomplished in the mortal plane and begun in the eternal immortal plane that begins only when mortality has ended.

Paul also conveyed the truth of the short time that is available, and the necessity to keep in mind the infinity of a time to be faced.

Hebrews 9:27-28King James Version (KJV)

²⁷ And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

²⁸ So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

With this in mind, he strove to make the most of the time available urging and exhorting any and all to do the same while it was still possible.

1 Corinthians 9:16-27

¹⁶ For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!

¹⁷ For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.

¹⁸ What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.

¹⁹ For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.

²⁰ And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;

²¹ To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.

²² To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

²³ And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.

²⁴ Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

²⁵ And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

²⁶ I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

²⁷ But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Paul's reminder was that we remain in the race until its completion, and it is only upon that completion that reward is obtained.

Short timers?

Yes indeed we are all short timers!

We are, however, each and all, not only coming to an end, but coming to a beginning as well, a beginning that once begun, has no end.

As you develop your own "Short Timer's Attitude"  perhaps it would be advisable to remember what is to be begun, and what is being completed for you is not completion for those left behind who dearly need the expenditure of your effort while it remains available.

I know not the number of days on my own calendar, I know only that they are counting down with each day expended, whether that day is well spent or wasted.

I pray that they are well spent despite the mortal desire to simply let them pass until the calendar counts down.

2 Timothy 1:12

King James Version (KJV)

¹² For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Amen and Amen

the Wayfarer