Redeeming the Time
String Music: A Newsletter from Dr. Hunter Taylor
Redeeming the Time
Workaholism
This past week, I was especially moved by an interview Ben Sasse gave with the Hoover Institution.
For context, Sasse - a former U.S. Senator and college president - was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
Since then, he’s been writing and speaking about what he’s learning — about himself, his faith, and how he spent his life.
The most haunting part wasn’t political.
It was personal.
He talked about needing to repent for the workaholism that defined much of his adult life.
And now, with a clarity most of us avoid, he’s committed to redeeming the time he has left with his family.
Not more work.
More presence.
The Pull
I love work.
I love how it makes me feel.
There’s a deep satisfaction in laboring through something with purpose, and then watching people receive it.
Even as new tools become available to make it easier to produce, I don’t want to lose that.
The effort.
The friction.
The craft.
It’s meaningful.
But it can also become addictive.
And like most addictions, it can quietly take more than it gives.
The Cost
I felt it again this week.
I walked through the door after a trip, and before I could even set my bag down, my boys were talking over each other, wanting to show me something, tell me something, pull me into whatever world they’d been living in while I was gone.
And in the middle of it, I caught myself thinking:
They look older.
It had only been a few days.
But at this stage, that’s enough.
And then there’s my wife, my best friend.
I don’t just love her.
I want more time with her.
Not eventually.
Now.
I’ve had conversations with close friends about their internal rubric for saying yes to opportunities when they arise.
Mine has become simple:
Either my family is part of it,
or the time away must clearly serve them.
If not, it’s probably a no.
The Question
What’s your rubric?
What are you using to decide where your time goes?
Because time doesn’t just pass.
It gets spent.
And once it’s spent, it doesn’t come back.
How are you redeeming the time you have left?
Your Challenge
Take twenty quiet minutes this week.
Write down what matters most in this season.
Then look at your calendar.
Where are you out of alignment?
What needs to be cut?
What needs to be protected?
What have you been saying yes to without thinking?
Don’t wait for a diagnosis to clarify your priorities.
Do it now.
Because the calendar is a moral document.
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