(Mat 24:44) Wherefore be you also ready, because at what hour you know not the Son of man will come.

TOO BUSY TO CHEW?

As Advent unfolds we will be reading many Scriptures such as Mat 24:44 quoted above in regards to the coming of the Son of Man.
 

I have been feeling overwhelmed of late.  Everything seems to be moving so fast.  Time just doesn't seem to allow for everything that needs to get done.  Certainly I've been busy before but this is different.  Seems like the days are just shorter.

Like many others I have responded by doing everything faster. I walk faster, talk faster and above all I multitask.  Doing two things at the same time is child's play.  Three or four simultaneous tasks is not at all unusual.

But for a few short moments last week, time did slow down.  It almost stopped.

You see I was wolfing down my steak dinner so that I could hustle back up to the computer and get more work done.  But I forgot one important detail.  I forgot to chew my steak before I swallowed.

That was when time stood still.

As I struggled to swallow, I realized that I couldn't. I then tried to breathe through my nose but realized that I couldn't do that either.  I looked across the room at my wife and instantly she knew.  Her face changed in a microsecond and tears already seemed to be welling up in her eyes.

Another attempt to swallow was just as useless.  "Drink something quickly", she gasped.

I tilted my head back to drink from a wine glass but it all just dribbled out of my mouth when I straightened back up.  The path was clogged; there was no place for it to go.

Time continued to stand still.

I stood up from the table and struggled to say (or perhaps lip-sync) one word as I looked over to my older son.

"Heimlich"!

As I moved away from the table to give him more room, I prayed for my son.  "Oh God, if he is unable to dislodge this, he will blame himself for not saving my life". "Please God, don't put him in this position", I pleaded.

Then, without my son having to lay a finger on me, I swallowed.  Through the will of God, I could breathe again.

(Mat 24:44) Wherefore be you also ready, because at what hour you know not the Son of man will come.