Trek, time, and theology.

I watched Star Trek: Generations the other day. The movie hinges on differing perspectives on time. The movie starts out with the death of Picard's brother and nephew, a stark reminder to childless Picard that his choices have been made and time has already engaged in its pursuit of his life and potential. It's described by the antagonist as a devourer which dogs every step. The crew of the Enterprise ends up discovering a scheme by a desperate/insane man who plans to destroy a star system's sun in order to change the course of a galactic phenomenon known as the nexus. Inside the nexus is pure joy. Whatever you want is yours to have, and time means nothing. The devourer has no teeth. But ultimately, Picard (and later Captain Kirk) discover that although they have everything they want, there is something about it which makes it meaningless because time is meaningless. There is no looking forward, because you can just go forward. There is no cherishing moments wistfully because you can go and live them again. Paradise, but without purpose.

I'm of two minds about time. On one hand, I don't think that time has a whole lot of meaning in the spiritual realm. Christ is described by John as the logos or word of God which was present from the beginning. Jesus was there when the first words of creation were spoken, and at the giving of the law, and on the cross, and the resurrection and at the last day. In fact, time can't have power over God or possibly even exist for God in the way it does for us because that would be a constraint which would negate what Christians hold as central to their doctrine--that restoration can and does occur. To quote my mom: "Time only exists so that physics works." We need time because we're not infinite beings. It makes me wonder if time existed for humans at all before the fall, or if maybe we weren't aware of the passing of time. After all, if there is no decay, decline, or death, there can't be time.

On the other hand, as Picard and Kirk came to understand, time does give us meaning in a sense. Time is what gives us a sense of perspective and location. Who am I now except for who I was before plus all the experiences that happened in between? Who will I be except for whatever happens in the time between now and then? Why am I here if not to work out some purpose, which, if time has no meaning, can't be of that much importance (how can a task be completed if there is nothing to define completion)? Picard describes to Riker that time is a friend that walks with us and reminds us to cherish each moment. That's a romantic description, I think. I'm not sure if I would agree with it, but at the same time, I have a hard time finding meaning in an existence in which there is no time, no change, no growth. But maybe that's because I'm broken.

Or should I say fallen? I think maybe part of the curse of the fall can be understood in terms of the effects of time on us. Instead of time being something which simply helps us gain perspective and understanding, it's something that also robs us. Eventually, time does take things away; health, vitality, and life in the end. Time and death may be two sides to the same coin. But think of time from God's perspective, where time exists in order to make physics work; in order to make gravity work, and forces and change and growth. Instead of decay, the change that occurs is always a new evolution, something exciting and beautiful which infinitely adds to us and yet takes nothing. Time would be the aid in a process of getting to know one another more deeply--to know God more deeply, and yet in that knowledge would be no pain or sorrow or loss. It would be a place where time has no meaning, and yet time means everything because there's purpose without degradation.

This idea is kind of hard to hold in my very small human mind, but it's one of those tensions that I think we have to live with. Time is both. It's a beast, because of how it acts on us broken people. But it's also a friend, because we can gain. And maybe part of the miracle of the resurrection is that breaking of the powers of decay. Because time did turn back, because Christ did rise from the grave, God defeated, and is currently defeating the parts that wither us. And that even makes it possible to wrap our minds a little bit around the idea of the now and not yet paradox. It did happen already, and it's happening right now, and it will happen in the future. It can be this way because even though God is deeply entrenched in our lives and suffering through Christ, ultimately God exists in all time, and our reality isn't the same as God's reality. So even though we may be living in the defeat of death right now, to God we're already living in life. It's just a matter of, heh, time before we catch up to the eschaton--to the future--that God is already present in.