Postby ClosetOtaku » Sat Oct 29, 2005 9:05 pm
"Time" is the consciousness that events have sequentiality, causality, or some other notion that "this came before" or "this came after". The sense, however, can mislead us. Einstein demonstrated that Time was a physical property of the universe, and is relative to the inertial frame of reference of the observer (the "twin paradox", for example), and can be influenced by factors such as velocity and gravity. Two (or more) observers can draw equally valid conclusions about the juxtaposition of two events, coming to completely different answers, and both be "right". So, even Time itself is not absolute in any regard.
In a spiritual sense, Time is for our benefit, allowing our relatively simple minds to be able to grasp routine concepts without going loony. Existential ideas are another matter completely. For example, we know God exists apart from Time. Sit for five minutes and think about what it means for God to be eternal, without beginning or end. At no point can you say, "Well, what about before that" where God is concerned and get what we'd consider to be a rational answer. How we will stand around the Throne and worship for eternity, to the average human mind, can seem simply incomprehensible, but we know this to be true.
Time, then, will disappear when God brings the Universe and all matter to an end ("the end of time", we call it, appropriately). It's foreign to His nature. For us, though, our flesh can't handle that Reality, at least not yet. Apparently, our spirits will be able to, in a way we just can't quite grasp at the moment.
My two cents. Your mileage may vary.
"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." -- C.S. Lewis