I received an epiphany recently in the form of an apparently ordinary birthday present. The present? A friend of mine sent me the following: two Super Bowl t-shirts; a Super Bowl golf shirt; and, a Super Bowl cardigan sweater–all from Super Bowl XLI. Super Bowl XLI just happens to be the Super Bowl between my beloved Indianapolis Colts and beloved Chicago Bears; the Super Bowl, the only Super Bowl I ever attended. I went with my two sons on a memorable whirlwind adventure.

So far so good, but very ordinary, right? Oh no. Far from it. What made the gift special? The price tags. Both of them. You see the items still had their original “Super Bowl” price tags and their discount price tags found on the items at the discount house four years later. Original price tags? Respectively: two t-shirts–$20.00 a piece; golf shirt–$75.00; cardigan–$85.00. Discount price tags? Two t-shirts–75 cents a piece; golf shirt–$2.75; cardigan–$4.50. It may have helped that the items were on sale in Boston–hardly a Colt or Bear hotspot. Of course, they came free to me.

What made it all the more delightful? I still remembered the mad scramble at the Super Bowl itself to snap up these items at their original prices. But now? Relegated to the discount aisle. Time value of money? Maybe. But maybe something else.

I wanted some Super Bowl items at the game, and had to settle for a Super Bowl wind shirt (not my first choice-all they had), at top dollar. You see, I wanted it on my terms and my time.
Now I discover that I receive, free, even better items than I ever could have hoped to receive. Not on my time, but based on some other clock. Maybe a better clock, with a better sense of timing. Trust me, I will treasure these items more than that stupid wind shirt.

So you the see the epiphany. Don’t expect it on your time. But, sometimes, you get it based on some other time. A perfect time? A time we see not? A plan we see not? 2007–expensive. 2011–free. Hmm.

“Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.” (Mark 13:33 NIVUK)

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, 15 NIVUK)