The Search for God Page 2.1.2.1.4.3
When I was in high school, I fancied myself as a romantic. I had this notion of love that would be timeless and would last forever. One of my favorite songs was “Always” by Atlantic Star. One line of the song, in particular, was, “Come with me my sweet, Let’s go make a family, And they will bring us joy, for always.”
Not bound by Time
Whether in movies or songs, we often speak of some endless love, destiny, or fate. We fantasize that before we were even born, our love was meant to be. We envision, as Lionel and Diana sing, our “Endless Love.”
We embrace some notion of eternity forward that our joy will continue. Time is a long line. We plot important events and dates on timelines. We peer forward, predicting and crafting our future. We glance back, reminiscing about the good times and the bad.
There are three aspects to time:
- The now (or the present)
- The future
- The past
The now (or the present)
We try to capture the now, but the moment I type a letter, the moment I dip my toe in the river, the moment passes, and the next moment arrives. We are beings living in the present only to quickly arrive in the future.
There is a rush of time that we are unable to stop. Some people speak of time moving slowly or quickly, but in reality, the tick of the clock is the same, just some presents are more meaningful and compacted with activity than others.
The future
Sometimes in the present moment, we contemplate the future time, we might plan for a vacation or a wedding; we save money for college or retirement; we live expectantly. These future events bring excitement and joy. They give us hope.
Then that future arrives, which transforms into the present, we take pictures, we laugh, we sing, we dance. Then the moment fades, retreating to memories.
The past
The past is a heap of regret or triumph. Some focus their energy and thoughts on lost love, fallen friends, or the “what could have beens.” Try as we might, humans are unable to alter these events. The events of our past and present impact our future, bowling balls of cause and effect.
Humans, by experience, understand the law of cause and effect. We understand that “time waits for no man.” No matter what we desire or wish, the past is unalterable.
What does it mean for a being to be timeless?
This idea is not the idea of the time traveler who goes into the past and tries to alter or witness events. Even in the past, that being rejoins the river of time flowing forward. The time traveler’s body still ages and grows weak.
One form of timelessness would be a being who lives forever. This being, once born, continues forward forevermore. For such a being, the future is timeless. This is where I could say “And I will love you so, for always.”
This being would not worry about packing in some vacation or running out of time. But still, this being is stuck in the river of time. They are timeless in one sense but not in the past.
Okay, what if a being was an everlasting time traveler? Would that being be timeless? Let’s say, for fun, there was such a being. What would happen? Would this being gain all knowledge? No.
If you watch the Back to the Future series, you get an idea of the perils of a single being flipping through time-changing decisions that impact the future, spiraling off into an alternate timeline. Such a being could exist, but they would not be truly timeless.
A truly timeless being resides outside of time
This being is not bound to the river of time. This being sits above the river. From this being’s perspective, the river becomes a complex 4-dimensional web.
Consider this; your past, present, and future are viewed in a complex web of decisions you did make, are making, and will make. This being has no beginning and no end. This being would not need to rush to a decision.
This being could impact your past, and you, living in the river of time, would never know the difference. All your future possibilities are already known by a timeless being.
Do you see how with each of these attributes, our mind becomes unsettled by the implications of an infinite, fathomless, unique, abstruse being? We just cannot comprehend. In fact, some of us get angry and might feel manipulated.
What is the implication?
If this being exists, does this mean everything is fated and we have no control? That is a good question. This being could force all our decisions or intervene, ensuring we make certain choices. Or this being could do nothing and let everything play out.
Whatever decision this timeless being makes could be with some purpose in mind. Maybe our universe is one of millions, maybe each universe is set with different parameters for different outcomes. These speculations about purpose can only be revealed once we find out if this being spoke into our universe.
But if this God spoke into our universe, then he has intervened. If God has intervened, he has a purpose. If God has a purpose, most likely he will tell us something of that purpose, for rarely does anyone ever speak without some purpose.
An eternal, unchanging, non-dependent being outside of any past, present, or future; a being living in the past, present, and future would possess all-knowledge, which would mean God would know human future events. Can you envision such a being? Do you tremble or get angry?
What Next?
- What is the crucial concept?
- A timeless being resides outside of the effects of time.
- Why is that significant?
- A timeless being should know the future.
- If you agree, the next steps.
- If you disagree, please consider reading.
References and Links
Hope is Excitement for the Future