The bombardier beetle undoubtedly has a marvellous sense of timing. Without this accuracy, it would indeed become a suicide bomber, merely aiding its prey to finish off its job with expediency. However with precision timing the beetles’ resources are used as a means of self-protection.

Timing is important. I’m sure we can all think of situations where people just happened to be in the right place at the right time. As a child, I received a free bike from a store by being in a pre-selected aisle at a pre-determined time. (It was my one and only winning event.) Other people have put in a job application at just the right time when an opening became available. Sometimes the factor of timing has been critical in one’s dating relationships.

Of course, being in the wrong place at the wrong time is also a matter of timing - bad timing that is. We can all think of situations where accidents happened to one person and not another because the former just innocently happened to be caught there at the wrong time.

Timing, of course, may not account for the whole story, but it may be a significant part of it. It may open new doors for us or lead us down unforeseen paths. Timing in and of itself is neither good nor bad, although the outcome may be. We can usually see the fact of timing quite immediately, but the understanding or appreciation for it often isn’t fully apparent until later.

For Reflection:

• Think of an event in your life when timing played a crucial role. How was it that you were at the right place at the right time? Or the wrong place at the wrong time?
• Do you think that timing issues come about by chance, by planning or by providence?