Toward a Philosophy of Time

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The future continuously impregnates the present which immediately births the past.

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We are told, “Live in the moment” or “live in the present,” by religious teachers, philosophers, self-help gurus. Now I know they are trying to tell us not to worry about the future; it’s not here yet. Likewise, the past is over and done; we cannot change it. There is a certain practicality to these pronouncements, with one small fractious truth: the present is far too brief to dwell there. There are an infinite number of nano-seconds in the word “is.” In other words, the present is a collection of the myriad increments that flow through the present. Perhaps a better illustration would be that of a stream. We stand mid-stream, Upriver water flows toward us then passes us and becomes downriver. The moment the water is in process of passing us is the “now” of time. We cannot capture that moment, being infinitesimally fleeting. The future flows into and out of the present into the past so rapidly, it is quicksilver in the fingers.

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We, in reality, possess only the past which dwells in memory, growing thinner and thinner as we age. We cannot know the future; it exists only in imagination and vague possibilities. We cannot grasp the moment, hold onto it, make it stand still. Perhaps it would burn us if we could pause its flight. Future and present flow into the vault of memory to be turned over, re-examined, cherished or regretted.

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This may be true for we who dwell in time, who are bound into its stream, who cannot escape its limitations. There is only One who is not so limited who is, of course, the creator of time. He lives in all dimensions of time simultaneously, is not bound by them, rules over it. He is “omnichronos,” which is not really a word, though I did find a book by that topic in which a woman with superpowers was able to live in all time. Fortunately, that is a book of fiction. He Whom I describe is not fictitious; He is reality itself.

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To the praise of the Timeless One, he who holds time in the cup of His hand and knows the future more clearly than we can remember the past.

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So, I say again, “The future continuously impregnates the present which immediately births the past.”

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…and that’s all I have to say about that.

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3/1/25

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