What Time is It?

A 2k word analysis of what I think about the nature of time...

Lights go out and I can't be saved
Tides that I tried to swim against
Have brought me down upon my knees
Oh, I beg, I beg and plead...
Clocks, by Coldplay ▼

I have a poor sense of time. Leave me alone without a clock, and I couldn't tell you if ten minutes or an hour elapsed. One of my earliest experiences of measuring time was at about five years old, sitting in the dentist's waiting room for two hours as my mom had a procedure done. It was doggone boring

Years later, my first digital watch amazed me with how quickly the minutes moved through the hours. I eagerly used it to set my bedtime at 9PM sharp… Or sometimes rebelled against the inexorable flow to sit up and read instead

My tendency is to let years slide past in a blur, often looking back, concerned about how much time has gone by since defining moments and memories. I seek to take control of time by creating intricately connected webs of mental context, obsessively journaling about what happened when, where, with who and what music I was listening to at the time. I enjoy digging through my records for “this time last year” to see what was going on. As I grow older, I look back analytically, hoping to trace a path of increasing wisdom and maturity.

This essay seeks to explore the different elements of time and how it's measured, by dealing with the provided questions individually.

The first question: is there a beginning and an end [of time] or just a circle of eternal recurrence?

Before attempting to answer a question of such cosmic proportions, maybe I should ask, what is time anyway? Drafting this, my device tells me it's 9:10 PM. But simultaneously, in Tennessee, it's only 8:10 PM. Yet, an hour is still an hour, no matter what part of the world we're in. The passage of time has been meticulously brought under control, divided so as to bring global civilization into a standardized future. In the past, time was measured inconsistently in different locations. It wasn't until the advent of trains, planes and reliable transportation that there was a need to know precisely what time it was anywhere in the world.

I'm conflating two separate issues: the existence of time, and our ability to measure it. Let's try a different angle: if humans didn't exist, would time still exist? Nature runs on timetables, with or without humanity observing it. The biological/geographical cycles on Earth are determined by cosmic cycles of the planets, stars and moon, against the larger backdrop of shifting galactic structures. Time is woven into the fabric of physics.

Having established time's existence beyond human awareness of it, how does it flow? In a straight line, or in circles? (Now an old song popped into my head: “will it go round in circles? Or will it fly high like a bird up in the sky?”) I propose time moves in a spiraling downward slope. Events never repeat themselves exactly; there's always something different the second time around, whether on a micro or macro level. The laws of thermodynamics ordain that without conscious effort, everything winds down, so if something does repeat itself it's usually not as “good” as it was the first time, like a spinning top losing speed or a tire shedding tread with each revolution. In my blog "A Stone Only Rolls Downhill..." , I've already discussed our human ability to create order out of chaos and our responsibility to do so whenever possible.

Second question: does time only move forward?

Perhaps my visualization of time is a wire, where natural law bends it downward but the addition of positive energy can bend it upward. It may twist over on itself, but the “current” of time running through the “wire” only goes one way, like electricity. Perhaps the world's endless struggle and suffering are caused by a badly distorted “time wire…"

Third question: Is time just one dimension in a multidimensional universe/multiverse that we have only just begun to understand?

I would probably assume that's true, although we're venturing into scientific theoretical territory that I'm not equipped to consider. I don't believe in a multiverse a la Marvel movies, because spiritually speaking, I don't think God wants us to know if there are other universes running simultaneously with ours. It seems like forbidden knowledge beyond our capacity to understand, and could be dangerous, because as fallen humans, we would be tempted to interact with it, likely catastrophically. Indeed, I wrote a story about this, "Black"  (On a side note, C. S. Lewis proposed the existence of multiple universes all the way back in 1955 in his Narnia prequel novel, The Magician's Nephew.)

Fourth question: what is the relationship between time and eternity?

Eternity is where time stops. As far as I can imagine, time flows in the created universe because things change, generally for the worse. Time needs to be measured because if we lose track of it, our existence will deteriorate: ageing, death, decomposition and chaos will take over. One moment is different from the last only because a multitude of changes took place, burning off a certain amount of energy.

Following this, we can propose that a perfect, unchanging world, unencumbered by the laws of physics and thermodynamics, likely wouldn't need time. Or at least, human awareness of time's passage would be far less urgent. We see in Revelation, the New Heaven and New Earth have no sun or moon. Presumably, there are no seasons, and if there is no night, the existence of outer space is questionable. We are also promised there will be no need for sleep. (No more bedtime ) Therefore, there are no longer any timekeeping standards or reasons to have them. The Divine Glow provides Eternal Light.

(Perfection doesn't mean static; I hope we can do, grow and create, rather than simply “exist,” in the afterlife… More on that at the end.)

Fifth question: does time have the same speed everywhere?

First, define “everywhere.” Black holes are powerful enough to warp the fabric of dimensionality, which would lead one to conjecture they can affect either the actual passage of time, or human perception of it. This feels, however, like time travel, wormholes, and space theory, bordering on sci-fi. Time as we know it is measured solely by what we can experience and analyze. We can even tell time by the microscopic vibrations of crystals, the most stable, accurate and reliable way. I don't know if we would be aware of different speeds of time, if we couldn't discover/manipulate it directly through research and experimentation.

Sixth/seventh question: how should we regard our measurement of time? Is this measurement meaningful, or just a countdown to oblivion/torment/paradise?

I believe our measurement of and desire to “control” time is largely a factor of our physical existence in a crumbling world. We face a countdown to death, and we wish to optimize the finite amount of time we have to do whatever productive things we can. Time is more efficiently used if we are aware of its passage. Perhaps the reason why Earth is designed with day and night, sun and moon, shifting seasons and weather, and the biological need for sleep, is to remind us of change and challenge us to strive to change for the better. Without these intrinsic subdivisions, we would grow lackadaisical, and inevitable events such as ageing, death and even bad weather would come upon us with less warning and less opportunity for preparation. Measuring time is meaningful insomuch as it guides us on what to do, when and where, on the micro and macro level.

Eighth and final question: Should we regard the passage of time with despair or joy?

That largely depends on who we are, what we're doing with our time and what we believe about creation and the afterlife. If someone is disabled or otherwise struggling, the prospect of gradual decay and ultimate deterioration offers little hope. Belief in a Creator God, above and beyond our physical manifestation of time, gives us hope we will someday join Him in timeless, perfected existence. Belief in creation ex nihilo also encourages us to follow God's example and create with what we're given. If we utilize our lives for good, we can look back on our allotted time and know we did our best with it. Time offers seemingly endless opportunities to learn and grow, to make mistakes and begin again, to mature and set in motion things larger than ourselves, continuing after we're gone, from families or trees to skyscrapers or governments.

I try to take the optimistic view of time, as being a gift we should treasure and use wisely. It's like the parable of the talents, or the way I treat my iPad… I'm afraid of damaging it, so I end up not using it to its full potential, even though I know there will eventually come a point when I can no longer use it for whatever reason. Many lessons to be learned here…


Footnote: I didn't discuss reincarnation as it relates to the potential cyclicality of time. I'll admit I never took it seriously, viewing life as mostly linear. There are times when I've wondered, especially considering how many billions of unique, individual human souls must have existed by now… Perhaps God is a cosmic recycler of souls? Perhaps someone being aware of past lives is an illusion connected to my “distorted wire” theory? I can't debate it intelligently, deferring to standard Abrahamic teaching on the matter.

Another footnote: the concept of time framed as a Story, with a beginning, middle and end. Evangelical Christianity gives us four chapters: Creation, the Fall, Redemption and Restoration. I've always wondered why all good stories are built around conflict, and yet the afterlife is without. Is peace so boring, we don't want to read stories about it? Are happy endings only the cherry on top of a thriller, or are they the beginning of something far greater and more exciting that we can't yet conceive of? Do traditional stories only make sense within our physical, timebound universe? Will we tell each other stories of our lives on Earth in the afterlife, or will everything from this existence seem far too pale and distressing to speak of in light of what God has prepared for us?

Perhaps I struggle with understanding the happiness of the afterlife because I've never really experienced a gloriously wonderful moment of happiness on Earth. I've never had a time when I was so happy, I didn't want it to end because it was too beautiful. Far more often, I've wanted the agony of the moment to be over sooner, burying it in the furthest recesses of my memory, basically subconsciously denying it ever happened. My happy times are when I'm at “default:” alone, doing something simple like reading, listening to music, writing or creating art. These solitary pursuits naturally have a well-defined beginning and end, and I know it's unrealistic and unsustainable to continue them forever.

Perhaps if I personally knew the joy of family, the unconditional love of a pet, or the magic of romance, I would understand what heaven might be like and why it couldn't be “boring” to exist eternally without conflict. Perhaps the best way I can explain it to myself is with a garden, something I grew up with and deeply appreciate. Gardens grow and become more beautiful quietly, without drama. Yet, gardens on Earth have weeds and chores. What joy would there be in a garden I didn't strive over? What exactly would I do in heaven? Does it even matter? If time no longer exists, it can't hang heavy on my hands. Boredom is itself a function of time. Perhaps in heaven, all we know is the one glorious, never-ending, perfect moment we've only dared to dream of.

Words: 1970.
Written for "Grill a Christian" 
August Prompt ▼

Time & Eternity. Is time circular, linear, or multiversal? How should we measure time's passage?

This is a massive topic. I am looking for writers to make decisions about the biggest questions about time and to justify those decisions with the authorities they recognise. Is there a beginning and an end, or just a circle of eternal recurrence? Does time only move forward? Is time just one dimension in a multidimensional universe/multiverse that we have only just begun to understand? What is the relationship between time and eternity? Does time have the same speed everywhere? How should we regard our measurement of time? With ten figures, we count it, with twelve obelisks, the Egyptians marked the passage of time in the night by the stars – hence the 24-hour day. The Babylonians used base 60, so we have 60 minutes in an hour and 60 seconds in a minute. We watch the cycles of the moon and the yearly orbit of the sun. Is this measurement meaningful or just a countdown to oblivion/torment/paradise? Should we regard the passage of time with despair or joy?

Will It Go Round in Circles, Billy Preston ▼