My Sunday Thought for 01222016: Time - The Transcendence of Love

Time has no dominion over love.

Love is the one thing that transcends time.

-- Jeaniene Frost, "One Foot in the Grave"

I wrote a post in 2015 called, Time Has No Dominion over Love.  I recently began a series of posts concerning time, and see no reason not to include some of those thoughts concerning the dimensions of time and love.  Emotions as a whole might better to be addressed in the context of time.  We'll see where this path leads.

I am a hopeless romantic.  I have to be.  Love and I have always been strange bedfellows.  It isn't that I don't know what love is, I have a pretty good grasp on the emotion... and exercise it often.  I have a deep philosophy concerning it; I simply refuse to invest myself fully in it.  Could this be due to painful relationships of the past?  Those are very possibly the cause and, if so, I worked hard to make them that way.  This bodes my favorite question, "Why?"  

Deep in my heart I have always known the answer, but the significance of this answer is for another time.

“Time has no meaning in itself unless we choose to give it significance”

-- Leo Buscaglia

There isn't enough time in the day, not if we look at time in the usual way.  We have defined time and possibly defined it poorly.  We spend the majority of time trying to understand what we are, or trying to be more than we are, or better than we are, without ever understanding that it is enough just to be.  We are.  There is nothing more important to the universe than our recognition of being.  It is enough, yet we refuse to recognize the fact.

Of what use is time if, at the end of it, we look back to realize we learned nothing of any importance?  We jump at the clock's alarm going off so we aren't late for so many appointments of such little value to our eternal soul.  We find ourselves rushing around to pack as much as we can into life, never realizing that life is eternal.

“We created time, and now we have become the slave of time.”

-- Leo Buscaglia

Whether we've loved yesterday, loved today, or hope to love tomorrow, is of so much less importance than simply loving, everyone, and always.  We are here to be custodians of our planet.  Our reward from God is companionship of each other, and children which will carry on as we pass.

It is safe to say, we have failed miserably at the task God levied upon us.  We have failed miserably as companions for each other.  We are struggling not to fail our children.  Many cry out that God has abandoned us, but I think it is more appropriate to step up and take ownership of the fact that we have abandoned each other.

All is lost?  God does not make mistakes.  What we are going through is nothing but an abject lesson in selfishness which began when the first of us ate the forbidden fruit.  What we are going through is an ass whipping which will last until we get a clue.  As with any father, this surely hurts God more than it hurts us.  God, being omnipotent and eternal, has patience.  God, being a good parent, will continue to pick us up and put us back on our path regardless of how many lives we have to live before we get said clue.  God's love transcends time and, since we were created in the image of God, one must assume our love also transcends time.

"Love isn't something we invented. It’s observable, powerful; it has to mean something... Love is the one thing we’re capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space."

-- Dr. Amelia Brand, "Interstellar" (2014)

As I wrote in my previous post in 2015, "Can love be defined as a dimension of its own, or, perhaps, part of a dimension of emotion that can transcend time and space? Why is it some have dreams of love lost with people they have never met, yet, when they awake they feel as if they have known them forever? Why do we bump into perfect strangers and feel we know them, or meet new people and find fast friends in them which seem to finish our sentences like lifelong buddies? Why do some meet a man or woman and know instantly they have loved them before? Can it be possible that emotion really can transcend death? Being a hopeless romantic, I can't help but consider the possibilities."

If love can be defined as a dimension, then so should emotion as a whole.  If Christian philosophy would hold that forgiveness is paramount and hate should be released in order to find peace in salvation, then we should also accept that evil also possesses dimension.  If we can accept that out love transcends death to exist beyond the confines of this realm, then evil also has the ability to transcend time and space.  It must in order to maintain God's own balance in our universe, the balance required of our reality, for there can be no good without evil, and no love without hate.  This is a balance which has been with us since the beginning of time.  It is a balance we see in the story of Adam and Eve, and the forbidden fruit.

Balance does not transcend time and space as it is a rule of time and space.  It is said, change is the only constant in the universe. I beg to disagree.  I would argue that change occurs because of balance, or a lack of, in which case 'balance' might be defined as the only constant.  If everything is balanced, there is no need for change.  I offer that life has the ultimate ability to bring emotion forward into other realities, passed death, and through time.  One might postulate that by bringing emotion forward, the balance of a particular moment is added to and experiences change.  Change creating an imbalance is what keeps time wound up, and the clock ticking.  Perhaps it is, also, what keeps love alive.  Maybe we should throw our lives out of balance, occasionally, and experience a little change.  It will probably tank the Viagra market.  

"Love has no age, no limit; and no death."

-- John Galsworthy (1867-1933), author

I'd like to end this train of thought, before it derails, by taking another excerpt from the previous post concerning time and love.  "All life is made up of special energy. When we die, the energy that is us, our soul, follows us. Like most energy it possesses a charge, its own unique charge, which defines us from everyone else like fingerprints. This energy attracts "like" particles toward it, unless there is a stronger charge pulling them away like a stronger gravitational field. So, if you were attracted to each other in this life as friends, lovers, or the occasional demented psycho stalker, and the bond was strong enough, it would stand to reason you might find each other in another life.  So you might find yourself bumping into old friends and not even realizing it. It is that moment when you think you've met before, but the face just doesn't ring a bell. Or perhaps you see a person you shouldn't possibly love, look into their eyes and realize, you've loved them before." 

"The body dies but the spirit that transcends; it cannot be touched by death."

--Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950), Hindu guru

Editor's Note 

(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card) 

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider another viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 23 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to the intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, in the guise of the Congregation's official, online, blog, "The Path," of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as lead chaplain at a regional medical center.