My Sunday Thought for 052117: Time Is on My Side

People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect,

but *actually* from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint -

it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff.

-- Dr. Who

Personally, I have come to the conclusion that time only exist as a construct of the mind. It is created to give some context to our plane of existence, our reality. We find a need to put events, emotions, and the other "stuff" of life into the context of past, present, or future. We can mitigate, expand, or dwell upon the consequences of the past, but the past has happened and there is nothing we can do to change it. Each moment is our present, and the present is what we use to shape our future. We live each moment for the next and this is living in the now. The future, however, being what we make of it, is susceptible to change. Our future is shaped by those choices we make in the moment of the present. We can let a person drown or we can save them, either way we have effect on their reality and the reality of those around them. We create our past, live in our present, and plan our future. One might say they just let the future happen, but isn't that, in itself, a plan?

"Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering."

-- Winnie The Pooh

Dwelling on the past has no purpose, whereas taking action on the past does.  In order for us to grow, in the future, this action must be positive and mitigate any negativity which may have occurred.  Finding the positive in all that happens is the way of not dwelling on the past.  Our history, our past, is but a lesson to assist us with the living in the present and creating a better future.  We can opt to do nothing, yet time will continue to move forward.  Our action or inaction, during the present, will determine how we perceive the speed of time in which we live from moment to moment.  The only way to change our perception of time is to be as nothing, to go to sleep, or to die.  Yet, even in sleep, do we not dream?  Even in death, do we not experience rebirth?  Time is a construct of the mind, yet it is with us always, or at least as long as we play into it.

“It doubtless seems highly paradoxical to assert that Time is unreal, and that all statements which involve its reality are erroneous. Such an assertion involves a far greater departure from the natural position of mankind than is involved in the assertion of the unreality of Space or of the unreality of Matter. So decisive a breach with that natural position is not to be lightly accepted. And yet in all ages the belief in the unreality of time has proved singularly attractive.”

-- J.M.E. McTaggart

Albert Einstein once stated, "Time is an illusion."  Our current perception of time, however, keeps it marching inexorably forward as anything but an illusion.  What if we change our perception?  What if we were to view time from a non-linear, non-subjective, viewpoint?  What if we were able to ignore the illusion and simply - be?  What would happen if we ignored our yesterdays, didn't worry about the issues of tomorrow over which we have little or no control, and simply lived to the fullest each moment of each day as it came? 

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”

-- Mother Teresa 

Time is a human construct, an infinite ruler we use to measure a requirement.  The only way time becomes stress is when someone like an employer, a customer, or ourselves, levies a requirement for something to be accomplished in short order.  There is plenty of time to accomplish any task until someone decides otherwise, or you just plain don't want to do what you've been asked.  The employer is redefining time in this instance, and is applying stress to accomplish a task.  Your choice is to accept the redefinition of time for this duration, or tell the boss to learn better time management, and pull his head out of his ass.

“A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.”

-- Charles Darwin

Winnie the Pooh would advise you, "If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear."  If you've chosen the "pull your head out of your ass" choice with your boss, you might as well start looking for a job at your local commune so you can while away your time making daisy chains because your boss, having no fluff in his ear, has heard every word. 

“Time is a created thing. To say 'I don't have time,' is like saying, 'I don't want to.”

-- Lao Tzu

Is time a created thing, a construct of the human mind?  I believe so, but then, I've always been a bit off.  I have written much about time, about wasting it, making the most of it, and about understanding how to live between the ticks of a clock.  If there is no one to perceive the passage of time, does time still pass?  If a tree falls and no one is around to hear it, does it make a noise?  Perhaps the fact that we construct a theory of time is all that is required to make time exist, for without a concept our minds would simply ignore the premise.  

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

-- Gandalf

It would seem our biggest problem is spending too much time in the past and the future, and not enough time in the now.  Perhaps if we understood the value of the moment we would be more apt to stay here longer.  We will move on though this life and into the next, and the next, and so on.  One day it will occur to us that time does not exist as we understand it, as we define it.  We can enjoy our present if we are in it, memories of time gone by if we remember them, and thoughts of moments yet to come if we know how to dream, because our mind creates our reality and the time in which we exist.  I rest easy in the knowledge that time is on my side.

“I sit beside the fire and think

Of all that I have seen

Of meadow flowers and butterflies

In summers that have been

Of yellow leaves and gossamer

In autumns that there were

With morning mist and silver sun

And wind upon my hair

I sit beside the fire and think

Of how the world will be

When winter comes without a spring

That I shall ever see

For still there are so many things

That I have never seen

In every wood in every spring

There is a different green

I sit beside the fire and think

Of people long ago

And people that will see a world

That I shall never know

But all the while I sit and think

Of times there were before

I listen for returning feet

And voices at the door”

-- J.R.R. Tolkien

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. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with an Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects in pharmaceutical research.  Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, to wage his "battle" 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 Chaplain Program Liaison, at a regional medical center.