Fr. Tony’s Midweek Message
September 30, 2020
Sub Specie Aeternitatis
When we hear the word “eternity,” we often misunderstand. We think it refers to time without beginning or end, to the framework of time we currently live in, but without a start or finish. Most modern Westerners see time as a line with a general trajectory of past, present, and future, based on our personal experience of cause and effect, action and reaction, and growth and development. Many ancient peoples and some modern ones in the East see it rather as a cycle, or spiral, where key movements and themes of life are repeated, based on our experience of the seasons and recurring annual natural cycle. Both views of time can be seen as bounded with beginning or end, or as unbounded, extended forever in both directions. But this is most definitely not what the word “eternity” means. It refers rather to the idea of timelessness, of being outside of time, whether linear or circular.
In Genesis 1, God creates not only the objects of the world, but also the framework in which they are placed (days 1-3 are framework, days 4-6, objects adorning the framework). This includes both space and time. God, as creator of the cosmos (the Greek word means “adornments”), stands apart from space and time. In a sense, God is the ground of being, and the sum of all time: “In him we live and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). And for God, all time is present, what we perceive as past, present, and future. This is why there is no conflict between prophecy and free will: God sees all our actions as ever present, and God seeing things does not in any way impose them on us.
Seeing things from the perspective of timelessness, sub specie aeternitatis, is one of the effects of following Jesus, who taught that “today has enough troubles of its own, so don’t worry about tomorrow” (Matt 6:34). Moments when memories become crystal clear and seem as real as events from today, sudden flashes of insight that show not only how the world might be, but actually will be, living in the moment and being present in our actual lives, aware of the deep effects our life is having on us, and how this will last—all these occur when we view the world sub specie aeternitatis. And having a faith that takes the resurrection of Jesus from the dead as its starting point means hoping that all will be right with the world. It means God loves us and saves us while still sinners, and that we always can change for the better. It means not judging others as if the final word of our worth has been written for ill. When seen from the perspective of timelessness, it has been written, indeed, but for good.
Grace and Peace.
Fr. Tony+
No comments:
Post a Comment