The indicating of the hour for the Work of God by day and by nightshall devolve upon the Abbot either to give the signal himselfor to assign this duty to such a careful brother that everything will take place at the proper hours. Let the Psalms and the antiphons be intoned by those who are appointed for it, in their order after the Abbot. And no one shall presume to sing or read unless he can fulfill that office in such a way as to edify the hearers. Let this function be performed with humility, gravity and reverence,and by him whom the Abbot has appointed.

A sense of time, timing, and timeliness can often determine our earthly success or failure.

We are creatures of time and space. We ought be mindful of each. We can shape and apply each to what is good and beautiful and true.

But we ought not so tightly manage our time that we exclude God or -- even worse --only include our time-and-space understanding of God.

God is beyond time and space. If you can fully wrap your brain around that, your mind is more supple than mine.

C.S. Lewis wrote, "God is not hurried along in the time-stream of this universe any more than an author is hurried along in the imaginary time of his own novel."

While we are creatures of time and space, we are also created by God and share of God's essential nature.

Even as we encounter the time-stream of this life, we can - with God's help - step aside and know the perspective and power of the author.