From the January/February, 2000 issue of *Touchstone*

Waste of Time by Thomas S. Buchanan

Waste of Time

Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she shall rejoice in time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.
—Proverbs 31:25–27

The virtuous woman described in the thirty-first chapter of the book of Proverbs does not eat the bread of idleness. This does not mean that she only eats fast food, but that she spends her time wisely. Although that seems like a frivolously obvious and almost silly thing to say, nonetheless, I submit that it is a common misunderstanding.

Whether it is running to work or doing errands or going to church or driving the kids to an event, our lives tend to be busy. It is remarkable how busy they are compared to those of a few generations ago. Then, modern technological conveniences did not exist to make people’s lives easier. For example, people did not have machines to do the dishes, and clothes were washed by hand. These things took enormous amounts of time, yet it is their generation, not ours, that seemed to be more relaxed and have more free time.

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Thomas S. Buchanan is the George W. Laird Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Delaware. He has studied at UCSD, Northwestern University, and MIT, and has held visiting professorships at the University of Western Australia and the University of Aix-Marseille. He has served as department chairman, deputy dean, and institute director, president of the American Society of Biomechanics, and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Applied Biomechanics. He is on the Board of Trustees of Saint Katherine College, the editorial board of Touchstone, and the board of The Fellowship of St. James.

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