Time and Space

January 1, 2004 (The Holy Name)

By The Very Rev. James Hubbard, Dean Interim

- Exodus 34:1-8
- Psalm 8
- Romans 1:1-7
- Luke 2:15-21

(From The Lectionary Page)

Time is the realm of history—of relationships, of the emotions: joy and sorrow, love and hate…
Space is the realm of creation—the universe, life and property.

God mandated the created order and it was good.
God blessed the Sabbath day and it was holy.

Only time can be made holy.
There are no holy places.

Time is not passing; it is not a clock or a calendar. It is a realm, a dimension found in the present moment and that moment is forever.

That present moment is not distinguishable in itself from a past moment or a future moment.
Yet some time is more precious than other time because of the way it is spent: a birth, a death, a wedding, a great love, a moment of insight, a time with God.

We invest time with its value.
Space carries its own value. Money has become the great symbol of space.
Time is the common resource of all life. It need not be acquired.
Space must be acquired.

We trade time for space. They are thus interrelated.
Popular wisdom decrees that only the spatial world has value. The “quality of life” is measured by the economist’s rule.

The Judaeo-Christian wisdom suggests that ultimately only time has meaning. Relationships, friendships, the fullness of life require time.

Only in space can life have form.
Only in time can life have meaning.

Time and space are two dimensions of reality.
We trade daily one for the other.
Let us not trade all our time for space, all our time for money.

Heaven and earth will pass away.
Time is forever.