WAS JESUS LATE

Chris entered the room, smiled at everyone, and with an even conceited voice, declaimed, “better late than never!” Yes, Chris was late again. And yes, he made a pathetic excuse again. Filipinos are tagged as late comers. This even necessitated the term “Filipino time.” As a matter of fact, nowadays, when you say it’s “Filipino Time,” it means there really is no official time. You can come late and still feel proud that at least, you even came. It’s also interesting to note how we Filipinos talk about time. Instead of saying 1 pm, we say “after lunch.” When we mean 9:15 am, we say “later.” The problem with this lies with the subjectivity of time. Someone else’s lunch time is different from others. Chris is a good epitome of a Filipino citizen. We come late and we even have the guts to excuse ourselves. This is probably because our culture is a little different from other countries’. We are a culture that rewards the late comers and punish those who come on time. How many times do we hear words like, “let’s just wait for another 15 minutes for those who are not yet here. While we’re waiting for them, you can watch this video.” Yes, we punish those who come on time and reward those who are late. Does that mean that “never” is better than “late”? This question is tantamount to saying that 3 is a better answer than 4 in the equation “1+1” because 3 is closer to 2. You see, there is no answer because the choices are both wrong. “Late” is not better than “never” in the same way that “never” is better than “late.” The Bible teaches us that there is a time for everything. Time is a valuable thing that God made us stewards of. If we need to accomplish something, let’s wisely use the time that God entrusted us. The problem with “better late than never” besides the fact that it has been used as a lame excuse is that it defeats the idea of excellence. “Late” upholds the idea of mediocrity while “never” promotes procrastination. So why would people be