Deep Time

God has put a sense of past and future into our minds, yet we cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. – Ecclesiastes 3:11

Einstein and God agree on at least one thing (and probably many more):  time is an illusion.

To God, who lives outside of time, there is no such thing as past, present, and future. All times are Now. Some modern mystics have called this living in “deep time.”

It’s a great comfort, whatever the current calamity, to know that there’s a time in the future when it’s already been resolved, somehow, and that that future is as real to God as the now you are suffering through.

It’s not just that God knows what’s going to happen—it’s that it has already happened, somewhere (somewhen?).

It’s also a great comfort to know that our past is not really gone (except for that unfortunate spring break trip—*that* we’d be glad to erase forever).

Made in the image of God, imbued with the Spirit of God, perhaps we can imagine ourselves in deep time a little more often. Starting with the present calamity.

We can mirror the past into the present, mining its lessons and keeping its dear ones and heroes with us.

We can live in the present, non-anxious about tomorrow (today’s worries are enough).

And we can imagine the future, what can be, and what WILL be, if we have the courage and stamina.

Prayer

God, You invented time so that our brains wouldn’t explode, and so we would have a reason to get out of bed in the morning. But in our most anxious or lonely moments, remind us of the truth: that we live with You everywhen. Amen.

Small Group Discussion

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About the Author
Molly Baskette is Senior Minister of the First Church of Berkeley, California, and the author of the best-selling Real Good Church and Standing Naked Before God.