The phenomenon of time in our world is such that as the Earth’s rotation is slowing, seconds are actually being taken off our lives. So we rely on atomic clocks to make the adjustments-as when astronomers added a ‘leap second’ on the 30th June- to maintain a proper day and night cycle and to ensure the proper functioning of our financial and economic systems. But, in whatever way cosmic activities affect ‘time’, our human ageing process continues regardless, at its own pace.
Time is precious to our everyday lives; the length of our days has spiritual and emotional significance. When my grandmother turned 100 years old last year, I was filled with so much pride and joy that I couldn’t help but tell my friends and colleagues. It was of course a very special occasion and though my grandma was unable to communicate, you could sense she was enjoying the moment.
My grandma passed away aged 101. As we get older, we become more aware of our mortality. Our lives are lived in boundaries: the boundary of life and death. The length of our days and years are mini-boundaries. We fret about time, how time flies and we rush to fill our lives going around anxious about how little time we have! While time means everything to us, it means nothing to God. The Bible reminds us, in one of its rare philosophical moments: ‘do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day’. (2 Peter 3:8 NIV)
We can take comfort for in Jesus, the timeless and boundless and loving God conquered our time. There is life in the one who is our beginning and our end. Let us pray with the psalmist who asks God to ‘ teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom’.(Psalm 90:12). However long we live on this earth, let us fix our attention on eternal things and may our lives be guided by the hand of eternal wisdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
