Note: This is not a weekly update, more than just a mind dump of some things I've been going over and studying. Be sure to let me know what you think in the comments!
1993 (or round abouts)
It was like most every other Saturday night over at my Dad's during that time in my life. After dinner he had dropped me off at the house with Grandma and then went to take his girlfriend home and spend some quality time alone with her (I try not to think too much about it). After Grandma went to bed, I was left to watch television in his room until he got home much later.
It was during this time I was introduced to a lot of old Sci-Fi movies (and I discovered my love for "Mystery Science Theater 3000") that the Sci-Fi channel would air for most of the night. Some were down right terrible, while others were so terrible they were funny. And then there were a few that stuck with me.
The cheesy, over dramatic score started in as the movie began and the intro credits started showing. So far, pretty standard fare for the kind of movie I was expecting. Then the title of the movie appeared on the screen as the music came bellowing up into a crescendo. "The Time Machine". "Ok..." I thought to myself, "This could get interesting..."
I watched the movie with a strange fascination. And while the movie brought out some very excellent points about the human condition (most of it relating to the 1960s, and, sadly, which is still mostly applicable today as well), what really fascinated me was at the beginning of the movie, where he explains time. He talks of the fourth dimension being that of time. And while we have freedom of moment in the other three dimensions (up/down, left/right, forwards/backwards. All spatial movement), we have no freedom in the fourth dimension. The dimension of TIME (cue overly dramatic music)!!!
You have to understand, up until that point; time didn't really have much meaning to me. It was just a number, or set of numbers that let my Mom know when we were late for school or church (which seemed to have a very negative effect on her mood). I had never bothered to really think about time and all it's implications. But being eleven, I didn't put much more thought into it.
Flash Forward Nine Years
A new movie based off of the same book by H. G. Wells, "The Time Machine", arrives in theaters. I'm stoked because I remember watching the old one so long ago, back in my fathers bedroom. I figured this movie will be very similar to the old one, just with updated graphics. I was wrong. They were nothing alike. I was disappointed at first. The movie wasn't bad; it just wasn't what I was expecting. I can't tell you what I was expecting, but it wasn't what was shown on that screen. The story follows that of Alexander (different name for the hero than in the first movie) who invents a time machine to go back in time to prevent the death of his fianc'ee. But try as he might, she always finds some way to die. So he goes into the future to figure out why he can't change the past. He learns something extremely valuable at the end, but it's not the point I'm trying to make. You'll just have to go rent the movie to find out what.
It is interesting to note at this point in my life, that my perception of time had obviously changed over the course of nine years. Time was now, more like a dictator. It let me know when I was late to class, late to lunch, or reminded me that I was up at an ungodly time of the morning talking to a girl when I should, instead, be asleep. Time, for me, was nothing more than just a way of reminding me of what I had missed (sleep), or a shadow, looming ahead of me showing me what was to come (that essay that I hadn't started).
If had been watching both movies closely, I could have caught something very important that would have changed my perception of time.
Flash Forward Five Years
I am reading up on different types of thinking and ways we relate to adverse situations. In my reading I come across the idea that we suffer when we worry about things that are in the past or that are in the future. And its needless suffering. It's a waste of energy. I can no more control the past and what has happened, than I can control what's going to happen tomorrow.
This blows my mind...
We've all heard the sayings before "Don't live in the past! Don't worry about the future... blah blah blah". But when you hear it so often, the implications of it are lost. Those "sage" words of wisdom don't really convey what is truly meant.
Live in the moment...
I can hear it now! "Oh, but Jonathan, that's so 'New Age'!", or "But what does that really mean!?" It's not! And it means everything! I can't even begin to express how important it is! "Living in the moment" is such an important concept to grasp. As this concept has dawned on me and really sunk in, I started realizing how much of my life I've spent LIVING IN A TIME MACHINE! I have been spending my entire life either living in the past, reliving old pain over and over (much like the 2002 version of the Time Machine hero did) or I was constantly thinking (read: worrying) about the future (much like the 1960 version of the Time machine hero did). I rarely ever stopped to just enjoy the moment.
Think about this for a minute. You can only be intimate with someone else while you are in the moment. You can tell if someone isn't in the moment when they seem "distracted" or "distant". And you can't feel close to them because you aren't with them. You can be sitting right next to them... heck, you can be sitting on TOP of them, but you aren't with them. They are some where else in their mind. Could be future, could be past. It doesn't matter, because they aren't there in the moment with you.
Keep in mind, I am not saying you should forget your past and I am not saying you shouldn't look towards the future. You should always remember what you've been through and learn from those experiences. Likewise, you should always be planning for the future, setting goals to reach. But remembering the past and looking towards the future is different than living in those two times. When I say "living" I mean going through the emotional experience of what has happened or what you imagine might happen in the future.
Well this has turned out to be MUCH longer than I had anticipated writing. But I feel like I've at least covered the major point I was trying to make. In case you missed it, I'll say it again...
Live in the moment!
Let me know what you think! I would love to hear your views on this! Is this a Christian idea? Or is this some "New Age" BS that is here only to distract? Where do you see yourself living? Are you like me, in that you find yourself living in a different time other than now? Get your friends' and family's views on this too! See how many people live any where but in the moment and then post it in the comments!
1993 (or round abouts)
It was like most every other Saturday night over at my Dad's during that time in my life. After dinner he had dropped me off at the house with Grandma and then went to take his girlfriend home and spend some quality time alone with her (I try not to think too much about it). After Grandma went to bed, I was left to watch television in his room until he got home much later.
It was during this time I was introduced to a lot of old Sci-Fi movies (and I discovered my love for "Mystery Science Theater 3000") that the Sci-Fi channel would air for most of the night. Some were down right terrible, while others were so terrible they were funny. And then there were a few that stuck with me.
The cheesy, over dramatic score started in as the movie began and the intro credits started showing. So far, pretty standard fare for the kind of movie I was expecting. Then the title of the movie appeared on the screen as the music came bellowing up into a crescendo. "The Time Machine". "Ok..." I thought to myself, "This could get interesting..."
I watched the movie with a strange fascination. And while the movie brought out some very excellent points about the human condition (most of it relating to the 1960s, and, sadly, which is still mostly applicable today as well), what really fascinated me was at the beginning of the movie, where he explains time. He talks of the fourth dimension being that of time. And while we have freedom of moment in the other three dimensions (up/down, left/right, forwards/backwards. All spatial movement), we have no freedom in the fourth dimension. The dimension of TIME (cue overly dramatic music)!!!
You have to understand, up until that point; time didn't really have much meaning to me. It was just a number, or set of numbers that let my Mom know when we were late for school or church (which seemed to have a very negative effect on her mood). I had never bothered to really think about time and all it's implications. But being eleven, I didn't put much more thought into it.
Flash Forward Nine Years
A new movie based off of the same book by H. G. Wells, "The Time Machine", arrives in theaters. I'm stoked because I remember watching the old one so long ago, back in my fathers bedroom. I figured this movie will be very similar to the old one, just with updated graphics. I was wrong. They were nothing alike. I was disappointed at first. The movie wasn't bad; it just wasn't what I was expecting. I can't tell you what I was expecting, but it wasn't what was shown on that screen. The story follows that of Alexander (different name for the hero than in the first movie) who invents a time machine to go back in time to prevent the death of his fianc'ee. But try as he might, she always finds some way to die. So he goes into the future to figure out why he can't change the past. He learns something extremely valuable at the end, but it's not the point I'm trying to make. You'll just have to go rent the movie to find out what.
It is interesting to note at this point in my life, that my perception of time had obviously changed over the course of nine years. Time was now, more like a dictator. It let me know when I was late to class, late to lunch, or reminded me that I was up at an ungodly time of the morning talking to a girl when I should, instead, be asleep. Time, for me, was nothing more than just a way of reminding me of what I had missed (sleep), or a shadow, looming ahead of me showing me what was to come (that essay that I hadn't started).
If had been watching both movies closely, I could have caught something very important that would have changed my perception of time.
Flash Forward Five Years
I am reading up on different types of thinking and ways we relate to adverse situations. In my reading I come across the idea that we suffer when we worry about things that are in the past or that are in the future. And its needless suffering. It's a waste of energy. I can no more control the past and what has happened, than I can control what's going to happen tomorrow.
This blows my mind...
We've all heard the sayings before "Don't live in the past! Don't worry about the future... blah blah blah". But when you hear it so often, the implications of it are lost. Those "sage" words of wisdom don't really convey what is truly meant.
Live in the moment...
I can hear it now! "Oh, but Jonathan, that's so 'New Age'!", or "But what does that really mean!?" It's not! And it means everything! I can't even begin to express how important it is! "Living in the moment" is such an important concept to grasp. As this concept has dawned on me and really sunk in, I started realizing how much of my life I've spent LIVING IN A TIME MACHINE! I have been spending my entire life either living in the past, reliving old pain over and over (much like the 2002 version of the Time Machine hero did) or I was constantly thinking (read: worrying) about the future (much like the 1960 version of the Time machine hero did). I rarely ever stopped to just enjoy the moment.
Think about this for a minute. You can only be intimate with someone else while you are in the moment. You can tell if someone isn't in the moment when they seem "distracted" or "distant". And you can't feel close to them because you aren't with them. You can be sitting right next to them... heck, you can be sitting on TOP of them, but you aren't with them. They are some where else in their mind. Could be future, could be past. It doesn't matter, because they aren't there in the moment with you.
Keep in mind, I am not saying you should forget your past and I am not saying you shouldn't look towards the future. You should always remember what you've been through and learn from those experiences. Likewise, you should always be planning for the future, setting goals to reach. But remembering the past and looking towards the future is different than living in those two times. When I say "living" I mean going through the emotional experience of what has happened or what you imagine might happen in the future.
Well this has turned out to be MUCH longer than I had anticipated writing. But I feel like I've at least covered the major point I was trying to make. In case you missed it, I'll say it again...
Live in the moment!
Let me know what you think! I would love to hear your views on this! Is this a Christian idea? Or is this some "New Age" BS that is here only to distract? Where do you see yourself living? Are you like me, in that you find yourself living in a different time other than now? Get your friends' and family's views on this too! See how many people live any where but in the moment and then post it in the comments!
1 comment:
The idea is very Christian:
All of these verses are concerned with worrying about the future. God is in control of the future and we "...are the sheep of his hand..." Psalm 95:7
Matthew 6:25
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
Matthew 6:28
"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
Matthew 6:31
So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'
Luke 12:22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? 27 "Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
Luke 21:14
But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves.
The following verses help us to know how God deals with our sinful past.
Matthew 6:14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
Through this verse we can see that came down to earth to take care of the sin problem once and for all. There is no point in worrying about past sin if we by faith take hold of the free gift of grace.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 5:7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--
From these verses it should be fairly clear that God cares about our past, present and future. He alone can control all and has given us peace by giving us the gift of faith in Him so we don't have to worry. Our job is to follow His leading in the present and He will guide us to a fruitful future.
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