Both the statement that our final destination is already settled and the view that it still may be either Heaven or Hell, seem to me to imply the ultimate reality of Time, which I don’t believe in. The controversy is one I can’t join on either side for I think that in the real (Timeless) world it is meaningless.
~ CS Lewis
After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal… Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.
~ from Revelation 4 & 20
Oh beloved, it is true.
We think one day that we will leave time and enter eternity. But, to even think this way is to miss what eternity is. For, if time is an ocean, eternity is the basin in which the puddle forms. And once we understand the structure of eternity, everything about our lives can be totally different.
Time is real, at least for awhile. But time is merely a dimension of the limited physical existence we currently inhabit. We get it. Up/Down. Left/Right. Forward/Back. … And time. With these four dimensions we can do a whole lot of things. And still, even in this existence, we can see that there is more going on than we can sense.
This fool of a writer is not a true scientist. But years of reading have helped me peek into the incredible world of theoretical physics. What has come from this discipline is an understanding that we do not even understand the physical world we inhabit. Quantum foam, uncertainty in terms of velocity and location, m-branes, particle entanglement, and the astounding truth that what we are is basically nothing but energy and information – draws us closer to the point here.
Can we see it?
It is not that time is not real. It is that time is so incredibly small, and so incredibly weak in comparison to the framework in which this strand has been hung. Time itself is nothing but a mere thread in the tapestry of forever.
If we are willing, we already know that it is true. Time is so limiting. Time brings up stress within our fleshly frames. We stress about a tiny little fraction of forever, called our past. We worry about where the thread is going, and miss the Truth that if we fall of the thread (or leave it intentionally) we actually step into a much more stable place.
For, if we open our eyes, we begin to realize that eternity is not just a phase that begins after time. No, eternity is the very dwelling place of G_d Almighty. For, G_d is not even bound by forever. It is, rather, a construct; an interface if you will, between the ineffable and the mundane.
However, this interface is so large, and so real, and so stable that it actually is where we have been living all the ‘time’ we have been alive. Time past no longer exists for us. And time future is only a dream. Where all of our life has ever happened is simply right now.
So, are you worried about a bunch of things? It happens. But, the lie of worry is that time governs our outcomes. Time does not do this. It is in not real enough to do this. However, by living where we really are (read: right now), we actually can let go of lies and simply dwell in the Eternal Truth. For, therein is reality.
Tonight is your night. Time to step of the thread of time, and stand firm of Eternity.
The flood of temporal things draws us after itself, but in this flood there is, as it were, a full-grown tree: our Lord Jesus Christ. He took flesh, died, and ascended to heaven. It is as if He agreed to be in the flood of the temporal. Is this stream dragging you headlong? Hold on to Christ. He became temporal for you, so that you might become eternal, for He became temporal in such a way that He remained eternal. What difference is there between two men in a prison when one of the is a convict and the other a visitor! Sometimes a man comes to visit his friend, and it seems that both are in prison, but there is a great difference between them. One of theme is held there because of guilt, while the other has come out of love for mankind. Thus it is with our mortality: guilt holds us here, but Christ had come out of mercy. He came freely into bondage, and not as a convict.
~St. Augustine of Hippo
