Our Time and Space

Have you ever considered how cruel time and space can be? The deeper we delve into these concepts, the more we grapple with pain and the many aspects of life that elude our control.

Consider time. We often hear that nothing is permanent. The glass of water before me will eventually be empty. My life ten, twenty, or fifty years from now will be vastly different. I can no longer see my grandparents. I can’t revisit moments with my father, who passed away a decade ago. Nor can I see some friends who left us too young for myriad reasons.

Even in our everyday work, when we talk about productivity, it implies an expectation to accomplish more and at a faster rate. If we can achieve the most within the minimum time, we can consider ourselves productive.

The motto for Olympic athletes is also “faster, higher.” Velocity combines both space and time; it involves moving from one place to another (space) within a set duration (time). Thus, speed exists within the framework of space and time. We should strive to be agile and punctual, as these are valued attributes.

Furthermore, there will come a day when I am no longer a part of this world, just as there was a time before my birth. Death is an inevitability, bounded by time. In this context, our ultimate deadline is our own demise. At the moment of your death, will you evaluate your life based on its efficiency and effectiveness? Is that what is expected of us?

There’s a saying that time heals all wounds, and there’s some truth to that. The anguish you feel today won’t last forever. However, the same can be said for moments of joy and serenity; they too may fade with time. Time has the power to heal, largely due to our ability to forget. Just as we can easily forget our sorrows, our joys can become distant memories.

Every moment, whether filled with joy or sorrow, is fleeting because of time. If that’s the case, what happens after our ultimate deadline, death? In a moment when time no longer exists after death, in such a timeless realm, there might be no such thing as forgetfulness. Time fades all our pains and pleasures, but without time, would we need healing in the first place?

How about space? It too seems cruel. Any separation, by nature, is due to its spatial distance. As my mother and brothers live in different countries from where I currently reside, visiting them as frequently as I’d like isn’t straightforward. During crucial moments in life, people come and go, creating varying degrees of spatial distance. We often long for our hometowns primarily because they are distant from where we now live. We miss people who are far from us.

With advanced technology, the planet Earth feels smaller. We can now travel to the other side of the globe in just hours, something that was unimaginable centuries ago. Yet, spatial distance reminds us of our limitations when we consider the vastness of the universe. Even traveling to another planet, like Mars, remains a daunting challenge. Reaching a star beyond the Sun would take years, even at the speed of light. And when we contemplate the next galaxy or the edge of the cosmos, the magnitude of both space and time is overwhelming.

But once again, after our ultimate deadline – death, what will happen to space? Can it still be an obstacle for us to move from one place to another? In such a spaceless realm after death, we won’t be bothered by spatial distance anymore. Like quantum entanglement, everything is everywhere and nowhere. The distance from one edge of the universe to another is no longer limited. Moreover, there’s no such thing as the edge of anything in a spaceless realm, just as there’s no such thing as a beginning or end in a timeless realm.

Time and space appear cruel, often leading us to feelings of despair. Reflecting upon them, we become engrossed in the mysteries of our existence, and perhaps the concept of existence itself. What does it truly mean when we say we exist here and now?

Perhaps time and space are not entirely cruel, but instead lie in the ambivalence between pain and pleasure. Our joy of life is shaped by such time and space. Imagine if you have a newborn baby who knows nothing about the world. Even the meaning of love might not be fully articulated, though this tiny life knows how to express and embrace love intuitively. As your beloved baby grows day by day, year by year, how would you feel the moment he or she seems as mature as you and discuss the concept of love more intellectually and philosophically?

Perhaps a sense of gratitude would overwhelm you, a result of the passage of time. Isn’t it beautiful to say that everything has a beginning and an end, an alpha and omega, and that a single seed can become a huge tree producing countless fruits? With a sense of awe and gratitude, we might proclaim:

“This is life.”

We can also understand space in a positive light. The joy of traveling would not be possible without space. We are instinctively excited by the effort of exploring the unknown. An expedition involves the physical effort of moving from one place to another; the destination is not only unknown but sometimes also intimidating. However, our courage and curiosity often surpass such fears. Life is indeed a journey. It is not only time that excites us but also the space that propels us forward.

The unknown becomes familiar. What is fearful becomes a source of confidence. Without time and space, we could never change, both positively and negatively. As we embrace both time and space, we can derive many lessons from them, making our lives meaningful, valuable, and fruitful. Everything exists in time and space, including us. We are here and now, and yet we continuously remain present, embracing our time and space to be explored.

Reflecting on these attributes of time and space, perhaps we can discern the profound truth that time and space are what make life, life. Without them, there is no concept of life. Indeed, when we are born, we don’t understand why, almost abruptly, our journey in time and space begins.

That’s why the primary components of a birth certificate are the date and place of your birth. It marks the start of your life, the beginning of your space and time. Who are we? We may not know. But one certainty is when and where we were born. Your life originates from this very moment and point. And, as is true for everyone’s life, it is a blend of pain and pleasure, sorrow and joy.

Life is difficult, yes. Yet, simultaneously, life is also a joy and a gift. It’s up to us how we navigate and explore it until another pivotal moment when we depart from this realm of time and space. That’s why the main components of a death certificate are the date and place of our passing.

Someday, somewhere, it’s certain. God will welcome us into heaven. Once such attributes of life are gone, we become lifeless. We no longer perceive ourselves as we transcend time and space. That is the nature of life. Temporality converges with eternity.

Image by Joe