The earth is a world in motion. It moves around the sun as if it were stationary. The ocean water is moved by earth's rotation, the pull of the moon and the driving wind. Living things on earth are born, grow and return to the earth. We see clouds moving against the sky in relation to the the fixed landscape, or observe them changing shape in when compared with other clouds, or observe their motion when our field of view is fixed. Astronomers use the speed of light as a constant with which to measure motion of the heavens. We only perceive motion in relation to fixed points of reference.

Motion and time are inter related. God is constantly creating by giving existence and sustaining creatures as they change according to the nature He has given them. We measure the motion of things such as the earth's rotation and call it time, but time is not just our measurement of motion because creatures have duration (a given span of existence) which is not dependent on our measurement; nor are their biological clocks dependent on us. "The concept that time is a fourth dimension-on a par with the three dimensions of space: length, width, and depth-is one of the foundations of modern physics." (Time," Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000.) From the physical point of view time is relative to motion and is a dimension of creatures, but not an entity in itself. "There is an appointed time for everything.... A time to be born, and a time to die ...." (Ecl 3:1-2)

What do we mean by eternity?

From prehistoric times, stone has always spoken to man of the unchanging nature of absolute being. "Perceived by virtue of religious experience, the specific mode of existence of the stone reveals to man the nature of an absolute existence beyond time, invulnerable to becoming." 68 The unchanging nature of God is also expressed in the Bible when Yahweh said to Moses that his name was "I am who am." (Ex 3:14) and further "Surely I, the LORD, do not change ...." (Mal 3:6)

By eternity we mean that in God there is no beginning or end, time or motion. Boethius defines it thus, "Eternity is the whole, perfect, and simultaneous possession of endless life." God is always present to himself and he holds the infinity of moving time present before himself. Boethius goes further and says, "The infinite motion of temporal things imitates the immediate present of His changeless life and, since it cannot reproduce or equal life, it sinks from immobility to motion and declines from simplicity of the present into the infinite duration of future and past." 69 Like the sun which shines upon the landscape of creation, God irradiates the earth and all its creatures with his eternal presence which becomes the ceaseless striving of creatures toward that eternal fullness of life.

There is in each one of us a sense of this eternal presence. We become more aware of this when our souls falls into silent wonder of all that is. Caught up in this wonder, psychological time ceases to exist . A letting go of our desires and wants allows God to flood our soul with a profound peace. This is already a foretaste of eternity.

We are destined for eternal life as we read, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” ( John 3:16 ) Christ mentions often eternal life but how are we to conceive of it? It seems to indicate that we will live in a timeless dimension, that is, that we will be caught up in God's Eternity. Yet, a timeless human dimension cannot be the same as God's eternity. How will it be different?

The Eternal entered time with the Incarnation of Christ, God's only Son. By his atoning sacrifice and resurrection he opened for us the eternal dimension of reality. Christ told us that in eternal life we will live like the angels of God. This implies that movement in this dimension is instantaneous, that is, does not pass through successive stages. The sum-total of our being will be present to me as an ordered whole. "Because of this simultaneity there is no waiting and no boredom; because of the order, there is no confusion, no loss of form or structure and significance." 70 We will be always living in the face of God eternal presence. We will never be able to forget Him whom we love with our whole being.

Man often dreamed of traveling to the past and this will be a reality in metahistory. In this dimension we will meet people who lived way before any of us saw the light of day and in some way share in their past lives.

The Earth Past is our Future.

Transfigured Earth