Never Enough Time: A Practical and Spiritual Guide

by Donna Schaper

Most of us struggle with the “time famine”—the pervasive feeling of never having enough time. Whether we work three jobs or none, have many children or none, or live in a huge city or a small town, most of us have the feeling there is always more to do than we’re able, more time required than we can give. In Never Enough Time, Rev. Donna Schaper helps us think through the practical and spiritual elements of the time famine and helps us instead aim for a feast. Schaper’s advice centers around our mind-set—understanding both the structural and personal reasons we feel so pressed, clarifying what’s important to us or not, and setting realistic expectations, while enriching the time we have. The book goes beyond the idea of “Sabbath keeping” to offer suggestions for all parts of life—particularly the busy moments. Schaper draws on her years ministering to people across all walks of life to show that the time famine cuts across race, class, and gender lines to touch almost everyone. She offers practical and spiritual suggestions that won’t magically give us more time, but can help us live better with the time we have.

152 pages, Hardcover

Published April 27, 2018

Reviews

[Micah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Having read Schaper's short book Sabbath Keeping while on retreat a couple years back, I was intrigued by this book. As one of those people that feels like there's always "too much to do", I liked the idea of a fresh concept of time that treated it like a gift and not as a scarce resource.

Alas, this book did not deliver. It reads like a very, very rough draft, or rather of rough drafts of stream-of-consciousness brainstorming notes for short sermons put together, one after the other, with no coherent message. Each sentence seems to have a "clever" turn of phrase, or coined word, or paradox, but they never seem to support a discernible thesis or idea. There are misspellings, repeated sections, and other signs of little or no editing.

I hope that someday I can read the book that this was meant to be!