info@fmy.org.uk
01904 639767Time Rich by Phil Harding, FMY Trustee
Over the holiday I read an autobiography by Sidney Poitier. Although he went on to star in a number of film classics – such as “In the Heat of the Night” and “Guess Who is Coming to Dinner” – he had a very humble beginnings.
He was brought up on Cat Island, close to the Bahamas, his mother and father tomato farmers; no running water, no electricity. Money was always tight , often not enough money for even a single candle for a night light. Somehow they survived. All the family helping to fetch water to drink and fuel to cook by.
Although they were money poor they were somehow family rich. As I reflected on what Sidney Poitier had shared – it led me to think that in our advancing economies we were losing some of the enduring value of family.
Rather than enduring relationships we are treated as short term consumers; valued not by who we are but worth defined by what we have. In this world of never enough we lose the one commodity that is always just 24 hours in a day, 7 days a week – that precious commodity of time. Time that we can spend with each other.
Relationships are never easy, and Sidney Poitier bravely reveals this in his autobiography. To endure every relationship needs time. Time to listen, time to hear of people’s hopes and fears, time to be there during the inevitable traumas we face in life.
We also need time to celebrate. Time to share in those humorous moments of life and see character lines form – revealing the enduring value of wisdom and experience. Time in which we develop commitment, loyalty and respect even for those we disagree with, qualities we see less of in our society. Qualities we see less of in the way we are treated in our economy - spilling over in the way we are – perhaps less committed to our neighbours, work colleagues or friends.
Yet wasn’t it good to see these qualities spilling over as people came together in the aftermath of the looting and vandalism. An enduring spirit of hope that lies dormant in all of us to give our time – to be there when it is messy – as well as when it is good. Hope that we can all become time rich. Hope, as we give time in this way, that all of us, all those around us – even our communities and nation - would be that much richer too.
Written by:
Philippa Beardmore
Tuesday, 01 November 2011
at 15:09
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