An email directed me to a Facebook post which began, “Just for fun and to procrastinate [an important work-related activity], let’s play [a mindless quiz modeled after a game show].”

But the same day, I had been talking with one of my Navigator mentors Skip Gray. Skip is in his late 80s, has Parkinson’s and is on oxygen. He’s growing weaker. As to Parkinson’s he likes to say, “When people come up to me and say, ‘Skip, I’d like to shake your hand,’ I say, ‘All you have to do is hold it; it shakes all by itself.'”

June and I were at a gathering of some older Navigators, and someone came up to me and said, “Skip would like to see you and June before you leave.”

So we went over to his table in the corner, and Skip said, “Just keep doing what you’re doing.” By which he meant investing time in people to help them follow Jesus and help others do the same. He went on to say, “There are two things you can do with money: spend it or invest it. There are two things you can do with time: spend it foolishly or invest it.” He closed by saying:

I’ve heard people use the phrase “killing time.” That’s a terrible thing to do to time!

So I didn’t participate in the mindless, time-killing Facebook quiz. Rather, I’m writing this blog! People say, “I don’t know how you write a blog every day.” I respond, “It’s a discipline I’m developing, and it keeps me alert to what’s going on around me.” And I could add, “It’s amazing what you can get done if you don’t kill too much time!”

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5.15, 16, ESV)