Timelessness

A child’s death from a ravaging illness seems to us to be outrageously premature, since in our time frame life ideally lasts into advanced adulthood. We find it hard to trust the Lord’s timing when he chooses to take from this earthly garden a precious flower just beginning to bud and replant it in his heavenly garden. It will all make sense later, when we see his orchestrated plan in the celestial blueprints, from the viewpoint of the all-wise and loving God. Meanwhile, “blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (Jn 20:29).

Faith includes knowing that God, as the Lord of time, wants to be the Lord of our time, as we strive to conform our timing to his in every event of our lives, from the timing of answers to prayer to the timing of death itself. One response of trust is the confident assurance that God’s design for each of us is at this moment in the process of being fulfilled, ineluctably, whether it’s unfolding swiftly or slowly. He may delay or subvert our plans when we don’t trust enough to wait for his timing, or if we rebel against it.

A faith that foments trust in a timeless God is a faith that trusts him to help us to distinguish clearly between earthly time and timeless eternity, between earthly things that will enhance our eternity and those that detract from it. Ultimately, it culminates in Jesus’ incisive question: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?”(Mk 8:36).

That’s what happened to the Israelites six centuries before Christ. “The time has not yet come for the Lord’s house to be built,” claimed the selfish people who were more concerned about paneling their own houses than restoring the ruined temple of Solomon, which they had left in disarray (see Hg 1:2-4). With his own time plan disregarded, the Lord began to refer to them as “the people” rather than “my people.” The covenant relationship was damaged by this lack of trust; the people hadn’t yet learned to trust God’s timing, but planned independently, without seeking and acquiescing to his timing. Even today, most of God’s people still haven’t learned that lesson. In the lyrics of a popular song, “When will we ever learn?” For most of us, only in eternity.

This excerpt is from the book Pathways of Trust, by John H. Hampsch,C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications. It and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/visual materials can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408.