Gen Chameleon's Mom: Time, As Viewed From Down Here On Earth

Time. The Watchers, or Observers as they are called in Season Four of Fringe view time as something through which to mark events… But what about typical humans? We watch Dr. Who and contemplate time travel. It’s intrinsic to our existence to experience its passing, and remember the past, wonder about the future…

But time cannot be stored up, we cannot be in debt with time, how we spend it is a moment-by-moment decision. We cannot promise time with accuracy, because each moment is a surprise when it arrives. We are used to that surprise, perhaps, until a car almost takes out our entire family by running a red light and feel lucky to be alive.

We cannot count on any moments but this one, although by playing the law of averages we still do. We plan a future, just in case. Some of us strive spiritually to live as if this moment is our last, while most of us are planning fiscally to live approximately 80 years.

We save money in case we might not have enough in the future, or to take a trip somewhere in the future. We cannot save the time to go on that trip, we simply bet on being alive to do so. If we are not alive then, perhaps we will have enjoyed planning and saving for the trip we didn’t live long enough to take.

My grandmother saved money her entire life to take trips she was too sick to take in her retirement. She wasted her future by smoking cigarettes, the doctors said. But that’s not true. We cannot count time that has not arrived as ours. We can only live each moment in a way of wellness that allows a better chance of wellness if there is a future for us.

If we plan a trip, we are setting a goal, gathering supplies, saving money, getting tickets, telling our associates not to expect us at work during the week of the trip… but the time we are targeting is but a wish. We wish and hope for the time, but cannot know for certain we will be able to make the trip.

So what is time but an existential state? It’s not a guarantee. It can only be spent as it arrives, it is priceless in that it cannot be borrowed, saved, sold or earned. We plan on it, but there is no insurance we can buy that will give us time when time runs out. It has its own way no matter what.

Even God will not tell us what our time on earth is to be for each of us. This keeps the spiritual process of time in its proper perspective, perhaps. One moment at a time, we decide how to live. And that is the truth of time. We can live as if we have many years to use, but time cannot be stored up and preserved.

Again, despite our plans, each moment arrives as a surprise to us. We pretend not to be surprised, because we are great philosophers in our own minds. However, if we are living in reality, will we not recognize that each moment is a gift, and that we have the opportunity to make a decision about what to do with each moment--?

What will I do in this moment? The awareness of its value to me is suddenly overwhelming. No wonder we stopped wondering at each moment as it arrives, or we might get nothing done but feeling grateful and praising the beauty of everything we encounter. And would that be a terrible way to live?

So how many moments should we praise? One moment every ten moments? One moment every ten hours? Some of us only praise God in a moment when we think we are going to die and we don’t die. We are all going to die, we just don’t know when.

How can we praise every moment of every day? Perhaps by praising each moment in the subconscious part of ourselves, or somewhere on the tip of our focus, somewhere in our awareness… And if we live in that praise, how grateful might we become?

What a relief to let go of the disappointment remembered in the past and the fear often anticipated in the future, and just feel grateful in this moment. I desire mindfulness of the blessing of this moment as my meditation. In our family, we say we love one another when we part company, even for what we think will be a few moments, because it is uncertain whether we will get the chance again: