Tuesday, January 26, 2010

The Theory of Relativity, or "Grandma, what time is it?"

When I was a young boy, my cousins lived on a lake up in Northern California, about nine hours drive from where we lived. One summer, our family made plans to have a reunion at the lake. When I found out, I was beside myself -- I couldn't wait! Well, my Dad had to work the rest of the week, but my Grandma was off, so she offered to take me and my sister up early with her. Poor Grandma. In those (not so long ago) days, lots of cars still didn't have air conditioning, and even if they did, it could be dicey running the A/C in the hot California climate, so my Grandma picked us up for the trip just before sunset to make the drive in the cool of the night. The trip went something like this (very abbreviated to spare the reader the torture my Grandma endured):

Me: "Grandma, how long will it take to get there?"
Grandma: "About ten hours. We won't get there until morning. Try to get some sleep."
Me: "Okay. Grandma, what time is it?"
Grandma: "It's Eight O'Clock, honey. Just try to sleep, we have a long way, yet."
Me: "Okay, Grandma." (waits about an hour) "Grandma, what time is it?"
Grandma: "It's Eight Oh-Five, honey. The time will go by faster, if you go to sleep."
Me: "Okay, Grandma" (waits another hour, at least; maybe two) "Grandma, what time is it?"
Grandma: "It's five minutes after the last time you asked me. Please go to sleep"
Me: "Okay, Grandma." (closes eyes and waits an eternity) "Grandma, are we almost there?"
Grandma: "No, honey. It's only Eight-Thirty. We still have a long way to go. Go to sleep."
Me: "Okay, Grandma" (waits another eternity) "Grandma, what time is it?"
Grandma: (sighs, takes off watch and hands it to me)

When I was a kid time really did speed up or slow down, depending on my circumstances. The month between Thanksgiving and Christmas took ten years, easy. A day at Disneyland was over after what seemed like an hour, maybe two. 30 minutes in the corner and I would have swore I saw the sun rise and set 5 times. As a grown-up, I experience the same thing, only in reverse ("What, Christmas already. I just paid off last year's Christmas!").

You see, time is relative. Oh, I know they have all kinds of atomic clocks and astronomical devices that tell us differently, but time really does depend on where you are and what you are doing. Need more proof? How fast does a year-long sabbatical in France go by, compared with, say... a year in San Quentin?

Perception of time also depends on how long you've been around. 2 Peter 3:8 tells us: But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. You see, when you have been around forever, a year starts to seem awfully small.

Here's the deal. If you are reading this blog, chances are you've been around 10, 30, maybe 80 years. Not really a lot of time, and it goes by faster with each passing day. The thing to understand, though, is that you and I are going to be around forever, one way or another. In context, that passage from 2 Peter reads like this:

By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.


You see, Hell is very real, and it's about a billion times a billion worse than anything that could happen to you in San Quentin. Forever there would last a really long time. God doesn't want any of us to have to go there, so He is waiting. For now. What are you waiting for?

No comments:

Post a Comment