November 11, 2015

Clock-time is not space-time.

So I'm reading this book,  A Table in the Desert: Making Space Holy, and the author, W. Paul Jones, is discussing the difference between clock-time and space-time.  Clock-time, he says, is artificial and finite, created by man to be “efficient.”  Space-time, however, is natural and eternal, created by God as a way to be.

In clock-time, we always have to be somewhere, doing something.  We need to be up.  We need to be at work.  We need to be at a meeting.  We need to cook dinner.  We need to go to bed.  The clock tells us when and where we begin, and when and where we end.

In space-time, however, we just are.  Time spent with good friends melts away into a shared experience.  Days not ruled by clock-time are those summer days we used to experience as children, living our life from sunrise to sunset.  If we are lucky, some vacations run on space-time in which we rise, eat, play and sleep when our bodies think it's time, fully experiencing the space around us.

When we gather for worship, which time do we use?  It's fairly obvious that we begin with clock-time; after all, I made sure everyone set their clocks back last week to ensure everyone was present at the appointed hour.

But what happens when our worship of God begins?  Do we think the readings are too long?  Are we unable to sit quietly during our times of silence reflecting on what God might be saying to us?  Did the sermon go too long?  Will we be trapped at coffee hour, unable to extract ourselves from a conversation, making us late for or absent from another appointment?

Or, are we able to listen, pray and praise in the midst of space-time, without worrying about what comes next, where we need to be after this, or how long it's all taking?

When Moses asked who was sending him (basically asking what God's name was), the response was, “I am.”  There is no clock-time involved with God, only space-time.  No beginning.  No ending.  But also the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end.  God is in all and all in all.

Our society constrains us to clock-time, but that doesn't mean we can't experience places of space-time where we just are; places where we can simply be.  Worship can be one of those places if you let it.

Here are some ideas on how you can help make that happen:  give yourself plenty of clock-time to arrive at church so you aren't rushed; enter the nave in silence and sit in the beauty of holiness, allowing yourself to be immersed with God's presence; participate fully, offering your responses intentionally and deliberately; enjoy the silence; be present to the mystery.

And remember . . . God has all the time in the world, even though we may not think so.

Amen.