Punctuality

One of my biggest pet peeves is being late. It is extremely rude and disrespectful. I especially despise being late to church. Think about who you are disrespecting when you walk in late to church. Before my accident, I don’t remember one time I was late to church. In fact, I would always arrive at least 10 minutes early. Granted, I only had myself to worry about.

Now, I have to rely on others for everything, including taking me places. And it really bugs me to be late. Anywhere. Especially to church.

Being late is egotistical and selfish. Granted, there are unforeseen emergencies/obstacles. Which are understandable. But for the most part being late is a choice. An egotistical, selfish, disrespectful, rude choice. Being chronically late is not understandable nor okay. It is a serious character flaw.

If someone invites you to their house, and you agree, it is common courtesy to show up at the appointed time. Especially for dinner, because the host puts forth much effort into preparing the meal to be served at the appointed time.

Any time you make an appointment to be somewhere, including standing appointments such as church service weekly, you should make every effort to be there on time. Once again, it is common courtesy and shows respect to be punctual.

You know in advance what time you need to be there, how long it will take you to travel, how long it will take you to get ready. Therefore, plan accordingly to allow enough time to arrive punctually.

Being on time is not about having enough time. It’s about planning and priorities. I hear it said quite often, “I didn’t have enough time…” That’s a bunch of malarkey. Everybody has the same amount of time. It’s about priorities.

People who are chronically late, are saying to everybody else that they are more important. “My time/priorities are more important than yours because I’m making you wait for me. ” I don’t think you could get much more egotistical than that.

When you are late to church, you are basically telling God that you are more important than Him. That is blasphemy. A very serious offense.

We are all late occasionally because of unforeseen obstacles. But there are those of us who are chronically late. If you are one of those, please look introspectively and figure out why you feel so much more important than your fellow man. And please try to correct that character flaw.

There is a joke in the church, that members of the church follow Mormon Standard Time. What does that say about us?

Please make an effort to be punctual.

That’s my two cents.