As typical on Saturdays, I went for a run this morning to clear my head. It was idyllic of early autumn here in the Bluegrass: a clear blue sky, a cool breeze, and a touch of auburn color in a few trees. With each stride, however, the serenity and peace was equally matched by the reality of sharp pains in each of my knees. My aching knees, like the changing leaves, pointed me to the truth that time continues to move inexorably forward. Instead of clearing my mind, this led me to remember a discussion I recently had over dinner with some friends where the topic turned to the passage of time. We talked about how time seemed to move faster as we aged, and why that seems to be the case. What really is time and what can we learn from it to positively impact our lives?
Aristotle concluded from his studies that “Time is the most unknown of unknown things.” Oxford defines time as “the indefinite continual progress of existence and events in the past, present and future regarded as a whole.” Like space and matter, time seems to be a dimension within the physical universe to help us gain insight into the universe itself. So what have we learned? Over the past 100 years, science has shown the universe had a definitive beginning and it will have a definitive end, meaning our universe is finite. So like space and matter, time will also come to an end. Honestly, that doesn’t seem to be new information. Aristotle also said “Time crumbles things, everything grows old under the power of time and is forgotten through the lapse of time.” (My knees attest to this “crumbling” of things with time!) However, this knowledge forms a major conflict between our minds and our souls: although we know our time is limited, we don’t live our lives that way. In our subconscious, we believe we will live forever (that’s why death is so unnatural to us) and that our lives won’t be merely forgotten. Why?
“God has made everything beautiful in its own time. He has planted Eternity in the human heart, but even so, people can not see the whole scope of His work from beginning to end” (Ecc 3:11, NLT). Well, what is Eternity? It is defined as “infinite or unending time or a state which time has no application; timelessness.” Is this possible? The field of quantum physics has used advanced mathematics to develop theories of time travel and Relativistic time, Space time and Imaginary time; yet no consensus or practical applications have been made. All of life still “crumbles” and dies; reality is not infinite or eternal. Yet, you and I still live as if Eternity is reality. What do we do with this?
“Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom” (Psalm 90:12, NLT). This is what our dinner conversation centered around, where life leads us as we age: to see the finiteness of our time. But this is only part of it; we must also grow in wisdom. How do we grow in wisdom? We must first go to the starting line and answer this one question: Is God real? If you answer Yes, then what does this do to our questions of time and eternity? The reality of God brings a transcendent reality where time, like God, would be eternal. This would reconcile the conflict within us regarding our limited time here and our subconscious longing for eternity. It means we, and our lives, won’t be forgotten in the end, showing our lives now have meaning and purpose. On the other hand, what if you believe God does not exist? To deny God means denying any transcendence or possibility of eternity. To deny God means that life fully ends when you and I physically die and that, ultimately, we will be forgotten (fact: you and I, and everything we have done in life, will be completely forgotten in 2 generations; it’ll be like we never existed). The summation of denying God is a life built on futility and meaninglessness. To make sense of life and death, and time and eternity, requires knowledge and reverence of God; this is where wisdom begins.
You still might ask “Ok, this is all very abstract and theoretical. How can we trust this yearning for eternal life that’s within us? How can we know Eternity is real?” The life of Jesus Christ has demonstrated that life goes on even after our inevitable death. He lived, died, and rose back to life where He lives in Eternity with God. He objectively showed the reality that our longing for Eternity is true. By loving and trusting Him, no matter how much time we have here, we will join Him in Heaven.
Why do we feel as if time speeds up as we age? It’s not because theories of quantum physics demands it, but the aching pains in our knees which reminds us of our finite existence. Our brief time here is only made whole when it is reconciled to our eternal destiny to be with God in Eternity.
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die’” (John 11:25-26, NIV).
