We view time so differently throughout the many contexts of our life. Differently for so many reasons. There are so many possibilities that influence the way we view time at any given year, day, or even moment of our lives.
Reflections on time gone by:
The way we feel about time when we look back on memories of the past is that it seems like it has gone by faster and faster the longer we live. Is it because we have compiled so many memories? Is it because we have filled our time with more and more distractions as the years have gone by? When I asked my nine year old son what he thought about time, he said, "The last quarter of the year goes by faster than the first three quarters. I think this is because there is so much more going on."
The way we feel about time when we are faced with a crisis if often very different. Twice in her life, one of my daughters has had an ambulance called on her for fear that she may have had a seizure. The first time was when she was two and I was with her. She had said from out of nowhere that she wanted Daddy and as I laid her down to change her diaper, she became unresponsive. I remember calling her name to see if I could get her to respond and then immediately running to the nearby bedroom to get the phone. I remember the fear I had when I returned while dialing 911 and she was still unresponsive. I also remember telling the operator that I thought my two-year-old had had a seizure because at that point she was responsive again which helped me to realize what had probably happened. I know rationally that this all happened very quickly, maybe in two minutes tops. But when I reflected on it, it felt like so much longer. I once again experienced the feeling of time going slowly when trying to get to my daughter's school after being notified that an ambulance had been called for her. Thankfully, it did not turn out to be anything serious in either situation.
A testimony before a Senate subcommittee in 1965 predicted that by 1985, Americans would be working twenty-two hours less and retiring at age thirty-eight because of how much faster work could be accomplished through the use of new technologies. Instead, by 1985 the average work week had increased from forty-one hours to forty-seven. We instead became a society that demanded more stuff and that meant that the more you worked, the more money you were able to make in the new materialistic society. We became a society that abuses the gift of time. For many, how we prioritize our time, tends to get turned around. Focusing first on advancing our positions, making more money, and spending it in a variety of ways that we believe fulfill our needs.
Reflections on time as God might view it:
I believe that time to God (if it exists as something to Him at all) is very different than our views of it. He is the beginning and the end.
I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. Revelation 1:8
This makes me believe that time is not necessarily linear to God. I think this is why it is possible for Him to be all-knowing, knowing about everything that has or that will happen in our lives but also to be able to intercede on our behalf when we have asked and it is within His will (the best plan, even if we don't understand why in these moments).
