Hi First Presbyterian,
I’ve never really resonated with the phrase “over the hill.” When people use that phrase, they mean that a person is “past their prime” or “not as young as they once were.” Maybe my opinion will change as I get older, but the passage of time doesn’t feel like a hill that we surmount at a certain point in life. To me, the passage of time feels like a hill we’ve been descending all along! From the time of our births, it’s as if our life is a ball that was nudged downhill and only picks up momentum the more it progresses. What I mean is: the older I get, the more quickly time seems to move. This is why we have idioms to describe the passage of time like “the sands of time” and “time flies.” Of course, this is all an illusion, but, if you think about it, it does makes some sense. One (24-hour) day is the same amount of time for a 2-year-old as it is for a 60-year-old. However, that same day makes up 0.04% of the total life of the 2-year-old but only 0.00005% of the total life of the 60-year-old. A single day is like nothing to a 60-year-old when compared to a 2-year-old, who has only lived about 730 days! The older we get, the faster time seems to go.
Allow me to encourage you. In Psalm 90:4, the psalmist describes God’s relationship to time like this: “For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past.” God has existed long before we ever did, long before any humans, long before any universe. We describe God as “eternal” to try to talk about what God is like in relation to time, but the reality is, God is outside of time altogether. In my most self-aware moments when I contemplate the eternality and timelessness of God, it changes my experience of the passage of time. As the “ball” of my life is rolling down the hill, God isn’t chasing after me, trying to catch up. God isn’t ahead of me, waiting for me. God is right with me, wherever I am, always. When I am able to go there in my mind, the “ball” of my life seems to stop rolling and I feel grateful. I feel grateful, because I know that God is totally aware of everything in my life. I feel grateful because I know that God, who is timeless, is also unconditionally loving.
Friends, God is always with you. God will always be with you. Time may feel like it is flying by quickly, but take a moment today to try to become aware of God’s presence with you. “The world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever” (1 John 2:17). Let us learn to live in this present moment where we are known by a loving and eternal God.
Peace to you,
Pastor Neff