Time, the Tyrant

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Looking out our bedroom window, I like watching for wildlife: birds, squirrels, rabbits, the occasional deer and sometimes a rodent or two.

I sometimes think about how they are not bothered by time. They have no idea what time it is, nor do they need to know. Whether nocturnal or diurnal, the position of the sun - and perhaps some more subtle signs - tells them all they need to know.

We humans, on the other hand, are slaves to time. We use all our technological savvy to measure it down to the nanosecond. America's official time, according to a recent article on the National Public Radio web site, is kept at a government laboratory in Boulder, CO.

"Exact" Time

And the people there help us know the “exact” time. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) “broadcasts the time to points across the country. It's fed through computer networks and cell phone towers to our personal gadgets, which tick in perfect synchrony. Humanity's ever-improving agreement on the time smooths communication, transportation, and lubricates our economy.”

Maybe so, but even the NIST time isn’t absolute. The institute has created a system that can count the time to within one quadrillionth of a second, says the article, or within a second over the course of about 30 million years.

Not bad, but the article quotes Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, a theoretical physicist at the University of New Hampshire, saying that “the time we're experiencing is a social construct,” and that “in some of the odder corners of the universe, space and time can stretch and slow – and sometimes even break down completely.”

Nonetheless, the time from the Boulder lab runs our lives. “It says when planes take off and land, when markets open and close, when schoolchildren arrive at class. It controls computer networks, navigation tools and much, much more.”

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It also accounts for an incredible amount of anxiety and handwringing. Many of us worry constantly about being on-time for an appointment, for getting on and off the freeway at the right time, for getting to a concert on-time. And we worry about us and our loved ones running out of time.

I recall as a youth being saddened by the song, “Auld Lang Syne,” which is commonly sung around New Year. The title is Scottish, meaning “old long since,” according to Wikipedia, “though in practice it means ‘old times,’ especially times fondly remembered, as well as an “old or long friendship.” 

The melody, though beautiful, is a bit maudlin, for me at least, prompting a sadness for the passing of the former year instead of providing a happy expectation for the year to come.

But the celebration of the earth once again passing around the sun presents a different challenge for people searching for God. A new year brings up the issue of the extent to which we’re willing to trust God.

To be sure, trusting God doesn’t mean believing that God will shield us from woe. Hardship and sadness are bound to come. It’s part of the human condition.

With Us Until the End

The great challenge for the believer, and people who want to be, is the conviction that no matter what happens, God – whom Jesus continually refers to as our father – knows what happens to us, loves us and is with us until the end. And, that the “end” isn’t what it appears.

“Eye has not seen, nor has ear heard … what God has prepared for those who love him,” promises the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians.

This puts a different twist on the problem of time. Seeing reality in this way should put our anxiety and sadness in perspective. The reign of Time, the Tyrant, is compromised and our slavery to it should be ended.

It may take not just a new year, but a lifetime to adopt this way of seeing things. But I believe it’s the calling of all of us who are searching for God.