A FEW THOUGHTS ON TIME AND HEAVEN
“Does anybody really know what time it is?” Chicago
We turn first to the great philosophers and their thoughts on time.
“Time keeps on slippin, slippin,slippin into the future.” Steve Miller
“Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.” Groucho Marx
“Time is like totally an illusion, man.” Bob the stoner from the auto repair shop. (Which probably explains why it takes so long to get my car fixed.)
It is hard to imagine time as anything but a linear progression from past to future. That is the reality of the world we live in.
But try to imagine a place where there is not time; where there is no past or future; only an eternal present. That is my conception of heaven. C.S. Lewis wrote about this idea in eloquent terms. I try to imagine that every moment and every experience that has ever happened is happening in heaven right now. Even harder to imagine that every moment and every experience that is yet to come is already a reality in heaven.
God is the eternal present. Now that’s pretty heavy stuff to think about on a Wednesday morning. Bu it explains a lot about how heaven is the perfect place. We miss the ones who have died that were loved. If they had to wait years to be with us again, it couldn’t be much of a paradise.
But what if, in the eternal present of heaven, we are already there? What if there is no past or future there? I heard a cynic say once that even if you get to do the thing you loved doing the most in heaven, forever is too long to do anything. That’s probably true from a linear time captured perspective. But if God is the eternal present then heaven is free from that linear trap, then forever is just a perfect, timeless moment.
Take some time to think about it and try not to pull a brain muscle.
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