Monday, April 17, 2017

stronger than time

 It is a difficult thing at times, this realization of time. We all say it, time flies and it certainly seems to. Strange how we live it and yet it goes by us so quickly. Einstein theorized about the space/time continuum and I think it is the same thing. Einstein was trying to figure it out and now it is Stephen Hawking. Both of those guys are pretty smart alright but I don' think either understand it anymore than I do. Seems to me time is a relative thing. There are times when it is very fast and others when it is slow. Determining the average is almost impossible. Man has divided time up into minutes, hours, days, weeks and months. Months form years and years make decades and on and on but we still can't really measure time. When did time begin ? Will time end ? That's the problem with this time deal isn't it ? How can you measure something without a beginning or an end.
 I began to think about this time thing when writing a blog posting about Easter. I was remembering how we used to get new clothes for Easter. Those clothes were our " Sunday " clothes. Mostly a new suit, or at the very least, a new suit jacket for the guys and a new dress for the girls. The decade I grew up in the 1950's that is how it went. We also got new clothes when school began, yup, our school clothes. Christmas was a time you would receive the more frivolous pieces of clothing , those " name brand sneakers " or another "name brand  " article. Of course you also got new underwear,  tee shirts and socks. I didn't hear about designer clothing until the 1970's or so. My birthday is in July and I might have gotten some new clothes then. That was pretty much how it went as I remember it. We didn't get new clothes throughout the year. I began thinking maybe that is why the Easter outfits became such a tradition. It was the time to get those new Sunday clothes.
 I was never one to admire new clothes. I realize some folks really enjoy dressing up and all of that. Fashion is important to some. Me, I'm all for being comfortable. I didn't like getting those new clothes. First off, with my new Easter suit all I heard was, be careful, don't get them all dirty, that jacket has to be dry cleaned you know, quit running, if you fall you'll get grass stains on those pants. And with school clothes you had to change as soon as you got home. New clothes are just a pain. New clothes aren't very comfortable either. I couldn't wait until Mom relaxed her rules on those school clothes. It usually only lasted for the first month of school or so. There was the repeat performance following Christmas though.
 As I was thinking about Easter and all those traditions growing up I was thinking about time. That's when I realized all that was fifty years ago. Fifty years ! Now where did that time go ? Strange how memory doesn't know about time. Memory is always in the present. Isn't that last statement what is called an oxymoron ? I can't help but feel it is the truth. Our memories are in the present to us because we relive that time with the memory of it. See, now we know why Einstein and Hawking can't figure it out either. Does it make sense ? No, not really. Still, a time and place say forty years in the past is alive and well in our memory. That is true even when that place no longer exists ! Memories are timeless. But what of memories lost ? Where do those memories go ? Do they go anywhere at all ? Or is that they no longer exist in this time, but in another ? I suppose that would be a matter of belief. If you believe your soul lives forever wouldn't that soul contain all your memories ? I think it would. Merle Haggard said in a song, " memories are stronger than time " and I think he is correct about that. The ability to share those memories with others has nothing to do with the strength of those memories is my feeling. I don't believe Alzheimer's or any other diseases like that rob people of their memory, only the ability to share those memories in this time. Perhaps there is a reason for this beyond the physical. God does work in mysterious ways, ways we can't understand.  Are those memories required some place else ? It's a comforting thought to me. If you've ever looked into the eyes of someone in that condition, not remembering, they do look distant. That may be the reason, they are.
 I do believe as we age we gain an awareness of time. Some of us gain that awareness sooner than others. These are the folks we say have an old soul. I do think you can be born that way. I also believe it is something you can gain through experience and meditation. Life should be a learning experience from beginning to end. Meditation is something we should all practice. It doesn't have to be a formal ritual just a contemplation. Where does time go ? It's a good question to think about. Is time nothing more than a circle without end ? Are we destined to repeat ? My thinking is this. Our physical selves are finite in nature. This we know without question. Yes we have extended the " life " of the body and will continue to do so. The other part, our soul or energy, whichever you prefer to call it, is infinite. Time would then have to be infinite for the soul to exist. So, time and our souls are one and the same. That is the reason we can't understand time. If we understood time we would understand that energy we call our soul. That soul is God ! I don't believe we can ever understand God. If we did we could recreate God, duplicate him. No, I don't think we will ever do that.         

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