“Everything is relative.” Einstein 1905
“Nothing is definitive.” Ekstrom 2018
“With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” 2 Peter
Time has slowed.
I just realized, as we move into autumn, that the summer seemed to last a really long time. This usually isn’t the case, at least for me. Normally, it feels like summer lasts a few weeks instead of a few months. I think a couple of things are in play. First, unless you’re a critical care worker, Covid-19 has slowed everything down. There are fewer places to go, fewer activities available. My wife and I spent most of the summer in our backyard, enjoying the flowers, marveling at the bees’ untiring work and generally becoming aware of little things we never had time to notice before.
Secondly, the pace of my life has slowed considerably since retirement. I am no longer looking ahead to the next Sunday or planning events for the next season of the church year. It always seemed that I was living into the future, the proof being that I rarely knew the current day’s date. I still don’t know the day’s date, but that’s because I don’t have to: I’m retired.
At any rate, for the first time in many years I feel that I am (mostly) living in the present moment. And that has taken some getting used to. For the first few months of retirement I was anxious and restless. I thought that I needed to be doing something though I had no idea what that something might be. Now, instead of trying to force things to happen, I’m trying to relax and just let life unfold.
You may or may not have had similar experiences. Time is not the same for everyone. As Einstein showed, the rate of time is dependent upon your frame of reference. Time can crawl when you’re going through something unpleasant or painful. On the other hand, it flies by when you’re doing something enjoyable. That’s why it is so important to live in the moment.
Over the last few years a cottage industry has grown up around the concept of mindfulness. Being mindful is simply being aware of the present moment, usually facilitated through contemplation and meditation. Mindfulness is often associated with eastern religions such as Buddhism, but it also has a long history in the Christian west. It can be very helpful if, like me, you’re assailed by rapid thoughts. Often there is so much going on in my head that it just becomes noise. I’m unable to think clearly at those times. Through meditation you can take a step aside, take a breath and still the noise.
You just need to make space for some quiet time each day. And if there’s any gift in the Covid-19 Pandemic, it’s the gift of time. If your life is too hectic, if you don’t know the date, if you’re emotionally out of breath, take a moment. Find a comfortable place to sit, and breathe deeply; clear your mind by counting your breaths or silently repeating the same word. It takes practice – you’ll be frustrated at first by how easily distracted you are. But keep at it.
The more relaxed I become, the more mindful I am, the fuller my life is. No matter how quickly or slowly they pass, we have only so many years on this planet. We need to make the most of them. Jesus came so that we might have abundant life. This is the opportunity to seize that abundance. As Einstein said:
“Time is relative; its only worth depends upon what we do as it is passing.”
Be safe. Be healthy. Be aware.
Divine Overtones 