Do We Have Time?
What is time? Is it a learned habit of referring to our human perception of past, present, future? The other day I saw an interview with a theoretical physicist on You Tube. He said that time may not be a fundamental characteristic of the universe. What could that possibly mean?
Our human experience is that some things are no longer happening and are therefore in the “past.” Some things seem to be part of our lived “present”. And then there are things that have not yet happened and are anticipated as part of a possible “future”. But do these three segments of time “exist”? Or are they figures of speech concerning our experience of being part of an organic flow of continuous change, evolution, growth and decay as well as being in the midst of spatial distinctions and discontinuities?
How do we chat about time? “There’s simply not enough time. I’m out of time. Time waits for no one. I had no time to spare. Time’s up. How time flies! I did it in the nick of time. It was a timeless moment. Time stood still. They arrived ahead of time. It will be done all in good time or at a set time or from time to time. I was pressed for time. He lived on borrowed time.”
Physicists tell us that before the Big Bang there was no time. Before you were born you were timeless and after you die you will be out of time. Time may be an epiphenomenon of being a living conscious being. It may be the way the brain makes sense of the change inherent in being and becoming.
How time flies! 2014 is almost 1/12th over! How much time should there be in a lifetime anyway? Jesus was 33 when he was put to death. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was 39 when assassinated. My wife Mary was 60 when she died of cancer. Pete Seeger was 94 when he died. Some people die as babies or children. What is long enough? Or is this the wrong question? Rather should we ask, how intensely are we living our life? How authentically? With how much gratitude? Are we contributing our unique gifts to the civilizing process? Are we relieving others' suffering and making them happy? Are we giving all that we have and are? Are we loving each person and every moment of our lives?
This is our time. Let’s use it well.
(Note: Image above is of Salvador Dali's painting of a clock.)