Temporal or Timeless?

Time, on its own, is nothing. Space, energy, and matter similarly would be nothing if they were alone; however, time, space, energy, and matter together make up most of what we see and acknowledge. Many would simplify this to space-time and energy/matter, but many would also argue that it is oversimplified already and begin to talk about quantum fields and dark matter. So, in order to talk about time in itself, one must assume that it is from a distorted viewpoint, simply because the other parts of what exists and intertwines are not taken into account.

Time is a line segment. Not a line; a line segment. It stretches forward and backward continuously, but only to some point on either end. Neither of these points is known. To our knowledge, physical man has not existed outside of time, and so we must assume that we are travelling along this line segment at a constant speed, there being no bending of this time-line segment unless it is supernatural, and no acceleration or deceleration.

Now comes the question: do we feel (or are we) at home inside of that time-line segment, and why or why not? Here is a verse to consider:

2 Cor 4:18 “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

I believe that the part of who we are that is physical, or seen, is temporal. Likewise, the spiritual and unseen part is eternal. The reason, other than my belief in God and the writings found in the Bible, is best stated through a quote by C. S. Lewis:

“A wish may lead to false beliefs, granted. But what does the existence of the wish suggest? At one time I was much impressed by Arnold’s line, “Nor does the being hungry prove that we have bread.” But surely, tho’ it doesn’t prove that one particular man will get food, it does prove that there is such a thing as food! i.e. if we were a species that didn’t normally eat, weren’t designed to eat, would we feel hungry? You say the materialist universe is “ugly.” I wonder how you discovered that! If you are really a product of a materialistic universe, how is it that you don’t feel at home there? Do fish complain of the sea for being wet? Of if they did, would that fact itself not strongly suggest that they had not always been, or would not always be, purely aquatic creatures? Notice how we are perpetually surprised at Time. (“How time flies! Fancy John being grown-up & married! I can hardly believe it!”) In heaven’s name, why? Unless, indeed, there is something in us which is not temporal.” [p.90]

The quote demonstrates that we are often not at home inside this time-line segment, arguing that our surprise at the quickness of time’s fading is a result of our spirit-man’s innate eternal tendencies. The eternal part of our being is much more important, and also much bigger, in a way. If the spiritual man leaves the body, the body no longer lives. The spirit on its own however, lives on in eternity. The spirit can live within time, but also lives outside of time. “God has put eternity in our hearts” is not a simple quote and a very true one!

If then we are mostly eternal beings, living in time, why does the temporal exaggerate itself, and why does the eternal seem so far away? I believe that our eternal nature is hidden from us so that we do not long for it and discredit time. Not only that, but we ourselves, by how we live, determine how much we live in eternity. If we live like eternal beings, only listening to God and doing as He says, then we may find ourselves living a life less governed by time, but may be occasionally more surprised by it, as it still controls our physical beings in a way.

This leads us to another question. Does eternity continue with time or is it the rest of the continuum of time outside of the ends of the line segments? In other words, are eternity and time happening at the same time? I believe eternity is outside of time, not the rest of the line-segment, but a completely different entity. They are both happening as you read this paper. Eternal life can be begun while the spirit is confined to the body, which is confined to time, because the spirit of man connects with the Spirit of God, becoming one with Him Who is eternal. Each time-moment that we attain while one with God, in complete unity, becomes an everlasting moment, living on in eternity; likewise, those moments in which we are not in sync with Him remain simply temporal and become frozen with the rest of the past. Again, a C. S. Lewis quote to give life to this concept:

“Son,'he said,' ye cannot in your present state understand eternity...That is what mortals misunderstand. They say of some temporal suffering, "No future bliss can make up for it," not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory. And of some sinful pleasure they say "Let me have but this and I'll take the consequences": little dreaming how damnation will spread back and back into their past and contaminate the pleasure of the sin. Both processes begin even before death. The good man's past begins to change so that his forgiven sins and remembered sorrows take on the quality of Heaven: the bad man's past already conforms to his badness and is filled only with dreariness. And that is why...the Blessed will say "We have never lived anywhere except in Heaven, : and the Lost, "We were always in Hell." And both will speak truly.”

To conclude, we are not, or should not, be completely comfortable in time, unless we live as though time is second to eternity, just like our physical bodies are second to our spirits.

Ecclesiastes 3:11-15 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man. I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away. ”