when are we?
If any of what follows seems interesting to you, check out How To Inhabit Time: Understanding the Past, Facing the Future, Living Faithfully Now, written by James K.A. Smith. A lot of what is written here is taken directly from the book’s wording (because the word choice fits so well!) So there is some paraphrasing, but also some direct quotes. Quotations were not included for stylistic reasons, and so this disclaimer is put here to attribute the work accurately.
who are we?
creatures, bound by time;
finite beings,
temporal beings.
melded and formed by
our experiences
our habits
our histories.
these make the present an opportunity for possibility,
they inform our actions and desires, consciously —
and subconsciously.
though our very mortal nature is embedded in time, we tend to ask, “where are we?”
instead, our heart yearns to ask, “when are we?”
“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.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11b)
the paradox of incarnational time
not history or eternity
but eternity in history…
a gathering up of history by the eternal God who stoops to inhabit time;
we are opened up to a communion across the ages.
time is linear and cyclical
folded and unfolded;
we move forward in time, yet still live into the events in time
Christian timekeeping is a liturgy centered on Christ
not just a device to remember
but an invitation into the event itself
like during Advent, to live back into humanity’s encounter with the incarnate God in time
year after year.
“He has made everything beautiful in its time.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11a)
now it is autumn
soon it will be winter
seasons change
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1–8)
recognize that seasons are to be expected;
that they require time, short or long,
to allow them to shape us
to trust in God’s providence and care
to discern our seasonal location.
that as we follow time centered on Christ
the same Word we have heard over and over
may speak to our place and season in a different and profound way.
to embrace seasonality is
to cultivate an availability to the moment
to entrust ourselves to the Lord of history
to willingly live through the mystery that is time.
as we make friendships across generations
we are humbled that many of our experiences have been repeated and shared
we may realize that we are in a season
in this, we foster hope through those who have faithfully endured these very seasons:
“this too shall pass!”
“be not afraid.”
with all that
how are we to faithfully live now?
recalibrate our temporal compass
that we are between the already and not-yet
with hopeful trust
and holy impatience
we cry “Maranatha!”¹
and yet, to also recognize rest, and live unhurriedly;
we are an eschatological people, oriented to the eternal
and to be unhurried is a tangible discipline of hope.
that we can build time into life
to ponder
to play
to talk
to pray
as an act of trust and expectation.
“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.” (Ecclesiastes 3:14–15)
I leave with this quote from the end of the book:
“Redemption is not an undoing, an effacing, or an erasing but a “gathering up” of our histories, a taking up of what time has wrought. Like the ships of Tarshish (Isa. 60:9), our habitualities and history sail into an eternal future with a God who makes all things new. Eternity bears the marks of our now.”
Also, just a note that similar to this piece, the book is more of a one to sit on and think about, to “marinate” in it, if you would. So it is not one that gives 6 steps to follow to solve all your questions on how to inhabit time :)
Footnotes:
¹ ^ “Maranatha” is an Aramaic phrase that means “Come, Lord!”
