Ecclesiastes 3:1-15
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; throw away; 7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
9 What gain have the workers from their toil? 10I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. 11He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover, he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; 13moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. 14I know that whatever God does endures for ever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him. 15That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by.
A recent episode of The Good Place described time–in eternity–as Jeremy Bearimy: Things in the after life don’t happen while things are happening here, because while time on earth moves in a straight line–one thing happens, then the next, then the next–time in the after life moves in a Jeremy Bearimy. In the after life, time doubles back and loops around and ends up looking something like Jeremy Bearimy. This is the time line in the after life. It happens to kind of look like the name Jeremy Bearimy in cursive English, so that’s what we call it.
The dot over the i–described as Tuesdays, and also July, and sometimes never; the time when nothing never occurs–breaks the character Chidi. This broke me, he says. The dot over the i, that broke me. I’m done.
If you’re not a fan of The Good Place, bear with me here. The show’s description of time in eternity–while irreverent and hilarious in the context of the whole episode–is also remarkably profound to me. It seems, in fact, to have something in common with our reading from Ecclesiastes, which concludes with this non-linear understanding of time: That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by.
If there’s anything in this life of mine that causes me to stop, suddenly, and experience a moment of true panic, it’s looking at my boys and being profoundly aware of the passage of time. Weren’t they just born? Wasn’t I just nursing them yesterday? Weren’t they just taking their first steps, dancing to the Wiggles, grasping my finger with their chubby hands?
Facebook memories make me weep every. single. time. Look how adorable they were 7 years ago. How is that moment gone already? Did I recognize it for what it was when it was happening? Did I realize how stunningly beautiful it was? Was I fully present? Or was I distracted and unaware?
I want to go back. I want to appreciate the moment more fully. I want to appreciate them more fully. I want to hold them close and imprint their scents and sounds and first words and comical expressions in my mind and on my heart…forever.
The idea that God seeks out what has gone by is a comfort to me. We experience past and future, but God holds all of time together in one seamless piece. The future is not unknown to God. The past is not forgotten. All of it–every last moment–is already somehow fully known and held, sought out and tended to by God.
I freeze in fear at the awareness of how quickly time is passing. This is the dot over the i that breaks me. I want to hold on too tightly to the past for fear of the future.
God gently invites me to dwell in the present moment, trusting that this time is holy. It might be a time to mourn. It might be a time to dance. It is surely a time to rest in the embrace of my creator, the one who holds all of time in a gentle grip of grace.
Come, Lord Jesus, come. Bless our past. Preserve our future. Dwell with us in this present moment and fill us with your peace. Amen.
Image Credit: https://tldrmoviereviews.com/2018/10/19/tv-review-the-good-place-jeremy-bearimy/