What Does Time Look Like to God?

I've sort of pondered that question from time to time and especially lately given the Harold Camping thing about tomorrow being "Judgement Day." I personally don't believe that and think any prediction of the end will invalidate it only by what the Bible says regarding that, "no man know the day or the hour of Christ's return." Many times throughout the years I have heard people claim that, "to God a thousand years is like a day" as stated in Psalm 90:4 and reiterated in 2 Peter 3:8. Here I think we make an assumption that is not really there. It says "it is like" not plainly that "it is." I don't believe that statement was meant to be taken as an accurate scale like a year on Earth is 365 days but a year on Mercury is 88 days, so therefore, a year on Earth is like 4 years on Mercury. I think it was meant to be more of a metaphor to explain that time really has very little or no meaning to God. Yesterday and tomorrow and four thousand years from now are all viewable to God at one time. Here's more on why I feel that way.

I was curious about the "Book of Life" mentioned a few times in the Bible since the whole idea of Judgement Day has become so prevalent in recent days. There are two verses in Revelation, that, for some reason, which I was not even looking for, mention a specific time along with the "Book of Life." Revelation 17:8 says, "The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come." What I want to point out is that statement is spoken to John, the writer of Revelation from a Heavenly being who I believe dwells outside of linear time however John, like the rest of us live in such a place that time is linear. This is why I think he speaks about the Beast in the context of human time (was, is not, will come). The thing that caught my eye was he says that there are those who's names have not been written in the Book of Life from the creation of the world. One would then assume that those whose names are written in this book have had there names in it since the dawn of time, or at least human time.

In Romans 8:29 Paul writes, "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters." God, seeing all of human time all at one instant knew from the creation of the world, those who would freely accept him. But I'm not trying to argue Predestination verses Free Will my point is that all time is right now to God. Again, in Revelation 13:8 it says, "All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world." The last part of that statement is very insightful. We know Christ wasn't crucified on the first day of creation, at least not as far as linear time goes but to God it was as if it was from the dawn of time.

A strange way of looking at it is if you had a thin glass rod held out in front of you lengthwise so that you could see it was, say 5 feet long, you could look at that rod as a timeline of human history. Now, imagine you could turn that rod so that one end of it faces you. Imagine you could look down the rod all the way to the other end. In viewing it this way, all of time is technically all at one point because you can view through the entire length of the rod without moving your eye left or right. It is all right there. I think this is how God relates to time. We as humans, however; view time in terms of days, weeks, months and so on but God sees it all as now. So is a thousand man years literally equal to one day to God? I highly doubt it.

Glass image courtesy of ~love-hand-in-hand on deviantART.com

Preserving the Mystery

So many times in life we are faced with information or a situation or a question in which we meet a wall that keeps us from seeing beyond what lies in front of us. At that wall we make a decision to either find a door that takes us to the other side of the wall or just stop and admire the beauty of the wall and the art that decorates it.

This wall represents "mystery." We can be satisfied with what the mystery presents itself as or press on to understand the mystery. What I've come to find out many times is that once the mystery is solved the "art on the wall" is no longer appreciated. Did you ever hear a song you like where you couldn't make out some of the lyrics? The song remains interesting to you because it's always a mystery as to what those particular words are. A few times I've searched out the lyrics in some of these types of songs and soon lose interest in the song.

I sort of wonder why small children enjoy the packaging to a toy more than the toy that's inside. Is it that the box represents all the wonder of what could be inside and then we are disappointed with the answer because it was never able to satisfy us in the first place?

What I'm trying to point out here is that there is beauty in mystery. Sometimes things should be left uncovered. I think this is why God only reveals some truths to us yet masks many others. Perhaps it is a mechanism to draw us to him. Isn't a relationship much more exciting when there are still things to learn about the other person? Once you've revealed all there is to know about them it kills the mystery. Yes, you can still love someone once you've gotten to know everything about them but the relationship becomes a cruise as opposed to a climb. Also, if you've ever watched one of those shows where they reveal magician's secrets you lose interest in those tricks and illusions.

Let's preserve mystery where we can so that life and God and all things can remain interesting.

Faith Over Fear

A few days ago I was driving along the highway in Northeast Georgia and took notice of the brightly colored flowers that were growing in the median. As I only had a few seconds to just glance over to see them I noticed that there were at least 3 or more different species of flower that was growing of all different colors and structures. I thought about how seeds and cells of animals all know exactly what to become: what there shape is, texture, color, scent or in an animals case, how many legs it will have, fur or hair, skin or scales. Needless to say, I was amazed at how these little seed or cells are barely anything yet they have all they need to become something specific.

As I pondered these things, I indirectly asked God how that's even possible. Just then, as I inhaled, I felt as though a small amount of air in addition to what I was taking in was blown into my lungs through my nose. It was slight but noticeable. So noticeable that I was freaked out a little by it.

I continued driving and stopped for a bite to eat a few minutes later. As I sat in the parking lot I was still left with the impression as to what had just happened a few minutes earlier. Then in that little voice you "hear" when you know God is speaking to you, (some of you know what I mean) God said, "they know what to do because I breathe my life into them."

The whole experience felt very real. It felt as though I had met God on a plane or dimension that we normally never(or rarely) see or experience. A confirmation of what Paul says in Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." It was clear to me that God's breath is in all living things and I was thankful that He showed me in such a powerfully subtle way, but I missed that experience I had which seemed like a live encounter with God and wondered if I would ever have that again.

So, last night I spoke to an old friend about it on Facebook. He shared a similar experience with me. He said that he felt this heat wash over his body and what he believed to be God, just as I did, say to relax and let it happen. He said he felt like he got healed of something but didn't know what. I found that very fascinating.

I told him that it upset me how I freaked out and the experience went away. Another example of this that I gave was when I think about eternity or infinity or space and my mind seems to leave the walls of time and space and drifts into places that seem so far from the natural world I am accustomed to. Then I stop because I can not comprehend those things so easily. But I want to go there. I want to know if you can stay in that experience longer and see or know something on a deeper level.

My friend had reminded me of the story of Peter when Jesus asks him to come out of the boat to him as Jesus is standing on the water. Peter steps out and for a brief time is standing on the water. Then he "freaks out" like I did and starts to sink. My question was, "what if we don't freak out but let it happen?" Is not allowing it to rush over us because of fear cause the feeling to go away? I pray that next time it happens I am ready for it because I really want to see where God will take me.

Does this mean that as a Christian I only pursue these kind of experiences? Absolutely not! They serve to make my faith stronger and deeper but I must chose to do what's right each day and continue to learn to love like God does. On the other hand, without these kinds of experiences it makes one's journey with God a little less lively.

Feasting On Carrots

As of late, my wife, Tia has urged me to go walking with her anywhere from 2 to 5 miles pretty much every day. I like exercise but primarily that of a competitive nature. I'm not a huge fan of walking in my neighborhood which has a killer hill that Tia insists we walk up and down at least twice per session. Usually, these sessions begin with 10 to 15 minutes of constant complaining by me about my aching back or sharp headache or why I just want to sit on the computer to type blogs like this. However, a bi-product of these walks is that it stirs my mind to think, usually about theological type things which generally consists of me spewing out words and thoughts and opinions on all kinds of subjects as I chew Tia's ear off with my external processing. Afterward, I am always blessed by those walks as it brings to light a lot of things that normally have a hard time making their way from my brain to my tongue. This is one of the subjects that came to verbalization:

Over the last few years Tia and I have been doing a lot of soul searching, contemplating, wrestling, utterly failing and celebrating victory in our search for truth and where our journey as people who want to follow Christ will take us. As we've tested many of the "truths" we've encountered in life, throwing away that which didn't seem to line up with the Spirit of God and clinging to the "truths" that bring to life the name of Jesus we have found that the truths that once seemed as readily available as the air we breath had become more like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

According to Merriam-Webster, truth is defined as "the state of being the case" or "being in accord with fact or reality." By definition, every day, every situation we are in, every being, every thing we can observe or that exists is the truth. Even a lie! The fact that there is any lie is the truth. But is that where the truth ends? Is everything around us true? Maybe, but it's not until we dig deeper into those things do we find what the greater truth is. Truth is not relative(what is true for you may not be true for me), but it is found only to those who seek it.

Is the truth laid before us like a dinner feast fully prepared that makes our mouths water and appeals to all of our senses with servants ready to feed us until we are content? Or is it a carrot on a string held before us that swings toward and away from us as we trudge forward eagerly wanting to get ever closer but only getting a quick nibble, always before us but requiring much labor(searching) just to get whatever nourishment we can.

My opinion has changed from the former to the later for a few reasons. One, is that in the pursuit of truth, truth can be found. Is it really at the other end of the tunnel or is it the trek through the tunnel that helps us find it? Peter Rollins, a man who's perspective I've recently come to enjoy, states "God is not the patch of meaning on the wound...God is the wound we put our patch of meaning upon." To paraphrase, God doesn't quench our thirst for truth but is the thirst which makes us need water(or His truth). Truth is not bought at the market but is labored for in the fields. Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one can go to the Father except through me." Just for a moment those words spoke differently to me, "I am the way to truth in this life, no one knows the truth found in my Father except if he becomes like me." Yeah, I know he didn't say it quite like that but as I chewed on what it is to know the truth or rather find the truth, these words took on a new meaning. How can we find truth in this life? It is found in not doing things FOR Jesus but BEING LIKE Jesus.