(Noodling:curiously rotating around and through a subject or point without a known end.)
I was inmiddle school when Ms. Johnson, my science teacher, taught us about the Earth’s
rotation. Her class was one of my favorites, and she was an excellent teacher.
As usual, I was excited to talk with my friends about what I had learned. My
first chance came when a group of us had gathered in the backyard to discuss
which neighbors’ fruit tree we were going to raid. When I told them about the
earth turning on its axis and moving through space, they all agreed that it
could not possibly be true, because we would feel ourselves moving. I could not
convince them that although we could not feel it, we are indeed hurdling
through space.
Going backto those and earlier memories is always thoughtful and revealing.
Lately I’vebeen noodling about space and time. Not just in the physical and scientific
sense, but in the spiritual and invisible realms as well. People often refer to
the “space-time continuum,” like in Star Trek and other sci-fi serieswhere space and time are not separate, but intertwined and able to be
traversed. This idea has always intrigued me, and the episodes where it is
portrayed are my favorite ones to watch.
Over theyears, I’ve become aware of something more. There are spiritual things that God
has already given us. Things that, in our natural understanding, seem to be in
the future, yet to happen; but in reality, they already exist. They are
complete. They are done. They are simply waiting, but not waiting in time.
They’re waiting in place, in liminal space. Waiting for us to arrive at a
certain place within ourselves—emotionally, spiritually, maybe even
intellectually—before we can meet them, receive them. And it is God’s Grace and
Mercy that gets us there.
Because Goddoesn’t exist in time, time isn’t the issue. We are. It’s not about when the
blessing comes; it’s about whether we’ve arrived in the place where the
blessing already is. That’s a mystery I’m still unfolding, but it feels
connected to the space-time idea: space being the place, and time being the
process. I have heard it referred to as Future Past, those realities that were
already done by God in what we know as the past and that we are expecting to
encounter in our future. In reality, we are in both places, whether we feel it
or not. Our spirit and soul exist in the invisible realm, and our bodies exist
in time, yet they are all connected.
Anotherthought I had was sparked by an incredible photograph by John Carmichael. He
actually flew high into Earth’s atmosphere during a solar eclipse to capture
it. It’s too amazing to just glance at when I pass it. It always makes me
pause. It’s astonishing just thinking about how the Earth is constantly
spinning on its axis, rotating around the sun with the moon in tow, all moving
together in space.
And yet…during a solar eclipse, the moon—though tiny compared to the massive sun—can
block out the sun’s light entirely, simply because of proximity and where it is
positioned in space at that moment. That’s incredible. A smaller object,
perfectly placed, can obscure something unimaginably larger. It’s all a matter
of alignment, timing, and position.
Isn’t thatsomething?
When Iwonder how long it will take to arrive in the future I envision—or what delays
may come—I remember that it’s all a journey toward a realm both unseen and
within me. We all share it, because we are all connected.
We are allin this together, each impacting, influencing, and imparting to the other
beyond space, beyond time.
